Today I read 3 Nephi 11 which is where the Lord comes to visit the Americas for the first time. Just about every missionary should be familiar with this chapter as it is pretty standard fare to have your investigators read this chapter and discuss it with them. In my day we used to teach the 2nd discussion in conjunction with this chapter.
Surprisingly the thing that stands out the most to me in this chapter is how much symbolism the Lord uses. Have you noticed that? He doesn't tell the Nephites to get rid of their pride, rather he tells them to become like a little child. He doesn't tell them that the Holy Ghost will sanctify them, rather He calls it the baptism of fire. He doesn't tell them that only through Him can they have eternal life, rather He refers to Himself as the light and life of the world. I wonder if that is the same reason He spoke in parables or if that is just how this people understand things? If you think about it the Nephites have been speaking like this throughout the entire Book of Mormon so maybe it is their culture.
I also find it intriguing that the Savior re-ordains Nephi and the other disciples to the priesthood. At least that is what I think He is doing when He gives them authority to baptize. I understand that He makes it a public thing because as He says, there have been disputations concerning baptism and to me it is obvious that who can do this baptizing was foremost among the disputations. So I wonder if He really did re-ordain them or if He only spoke that phrase that He gives them power to baptize when He is gone? I suppose both ways would be effective but re-ordaining them would be unnecessary I think.
I have always found it interesting that the Savior feels it is necessary to teach the Nephites that the spirit of contention is not of Him but rather is of the devil. Doesn't that seem like it should be a no brainer? I mean who in their right mind who knows anything about the Savior would ever imagine that He is pleased or even ok with contention? Maybe this is another one of those moments where I am assuming everyone else thinks like me, but I don't think so. I think it's pretty ingrained in all of us that conflict is bad. Think about it, we always teach our children that they shouldn't fight, to play nicely, etc. It's our instinct. But somewhere along the way we forget that and become selfish and start to only care about what we want.
The thing I think most people don't understand is that you can have emotions and even disagreements without having the spirit of contention. Remember, even the Savior got mad and threw out the money changers from the temple, and it says even God gets angry. That is not the sin, the sin is when you do not control it and it controls you. And the worst part, the absolute worst part to me, is when people hide behind that lack of control like a shield. People who try to cleanse the slate because they were so angry etc. I can tolerate people with little to no control over their emotions most of the time, but what I cannot abide is people who will not take ownership over their own actions and emotions and acknowledge their faults.
There are some exceptions of course, those who are mentally ill and some others, but we are all responsible for what we do. When we stand before God and He asks us why we did what we did, I guarantee you that the answer of "He made me angry" will NOT be acceptable. Think what would happen if God lashed out uncontrollably every time some one made Him upset? There would be very, very few of us left on this earth, that is for sure. We as a people have got to learn better control and for sure we have to take ownership of our actions. If we cannot do this, we are not fit for the kingdom. It's sad but there are going to be a lot of VERY surprised people when they stand before the judgment bar after this life and some very disappointed people.
I hope that we can all learn the control we need to learn in this life, because for some reason having a body makes it that much easier. I confess I do not know why that is, but we are told time and time again that overcoming our short comings is so much easier in this life with a body. And I believe the scriptures and God so I am trying as hard as I can to learn to have the control I need to have. I hope you are too. Until tomorrow.
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