Today’s Reading: 2 Nephi 4:1-15
15 And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.
I’ll admit I haven’t always delighted in the scriptures. As a child, when my mom suggested scripture study, I rolled my eyes and sighed before reluctantly surrendering to certain boredom. As a teenager, I mentally “checked out” every time the subject was broached in church meetings. It wasn’t until I was a sobbing 19-year-old, saying a woeful goodbye to my twin brother in the ritualistic MTC ceremony that the ball started rolling. He made me promise that I would read the whole Book of Mormon before he got home. I read it–slowly, and finished three months before he returned.
My love for the scriptures started by simply reading them, praying to know that they were true, then hearing the Spirit whisper “I am the author of this book”. I then saw the scriptures in a new light–they were not a burden, but a gift from God to ME– like letters from my heavenly home. It then became a delight for me to find new ways to make the scriptures feel more meaningful. Here is a collection of ideas (some suggested by our leaders) that have worked:
- Pray that I can pay attention to, understand, and love what I am reading
- Pray that my study will prepare me to teach or help a certain person or solve a particular problem
- Read earlier in the day from actual scriptures instead of my phone
- Read at a table (not on a couch or bed)
- Create my own marking system
- Look up words from my patriarchal blessing in the scriptures
- Memorize/ ponderize verses
- Write my thoughts or general conference quotes in a study journal or next to verses that testify of the same truths
- Read 30 minutes per day
- Bear testimony of the scriptures
It’s definitely been a journey–one with peaks and valleys in my desire to read the scriptures and my love for doing so. But I no longer roll my eyes when the topic of scripture study is brought up. Instead, the Spirit burns within me and I often hunger for those words!
I have come to understand the quote from Ezra Taft Benson:
“. . .studying and searching the scriptures is not a burden laid upon [us] by the Lord, but a marvelous blessing and opportunity.” [i]
How have you come to delight in the scriptures?
After growing up in the bitter cold of Alberta Canada and serving a mission in the scalding heat of Tucson Arizona, I finally settled for the “moderate” climate of Utah. I met my best friend and love of my life at BYU where I received my degree in Marriage and Family Studies. I stay at home with my two little girls, teach marriage classes with my husband, and run an alumni Facebook group. I love to write, bake, travel, teach, and feast upon the words of Christ, but my favorite happy thought of all is going on weekly dates with my husband!