Todays Reading: 3 Nephi 29-30
If someone were to have walked in on me at that moment, they would have seen me laying on my bed with my scriptures open. My journal was out and my scriptures were open and it looked as if I was studying. In fact, I had been but all of the sudden my heart was filled with this intense pain. I literally sat there just immovable as I reflected on my actions the past week. It was something like this —When I was really impatient with my kids and gave out a harsher consequence than I should have. My husband wanting to hangout (since its been really busy at work and we haven’t seen each other) and instead I read my book. Having that one-way argument with my sibling (in my head since I didn’t want to actually talk like a rational person face-to-face). I mean, the list goes on forever right. And it was this scripture that was the catalyst for it 3 Nephi 30:1-2
1 Hearken, O ye Gentiles, and hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, which he hath commanded me that I should speak concerning you, for, behold he commandeth me that I should write, saying:
2 Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.
So I’m not a murder and I don’t have secret abominations and there are no golden idols in my home. But I could recognize this moment as a tipping point for me. In my minds eye I pictured myself on a scale. It would have been titled “goodness” or something equally altruistic. And I didn’t measure up. Wow. Just…. WOW. What a wake up. The Lord was asking ME to come unto HIM. So that I could be numbered with His people. Elder Oaks said
The gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to change. “Repent” is its most frequent message, and repenting means giving up all of our practices—personal, family, ethnic, and national—that are contrary to the commandments of God. The purpose of the gospel is to transform common creatures into celestial citizens, and that requires change.
My hear just burst with love and with this deeply moving desire to truly Come Unto Him. I needed to be cleansed and I needed to be filled with the Holy Ghost. In His goodness and mercy His Spirit spoke to me telling me that I was love so so much. And I also needed to do better than I was doing. He was asking me to stop “lying ” (by omission) and to Stand Up for Truth, to stop being envious and to learn to be happy with what I have. In essence, to purge my life of those thoughts and actions that keep me away from Him. The words of Elder Uchtdorf came back to me:
The Lord uses a scale very different from the world’s to weigh the worth of a soul.
God Himself said we are the reason He created the universe! His work and glory—the purpose for this magnificent universe—is to save and exalt mankind. In other words, the vast expanse of eternity, the glories and mysteries of infinite space and time are all built for the benefit of ordinary mortals like you and me. Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters.
This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation—worlds without end—within our grasp. And it is God’s great desire to help us reach it.
Just a thirty-something mom to 4 and wife to 1. I like to workout so I can eat Bluebell ice cream and love to spend any time I can vacationing with my family and friends. I graduated from BYU-Hawaii and currently call Texas my home.