Today I read Micah 7 where Micah tells the Israelites that there are none of them that do good. He tells them that the best of them are as a briar, or a thorn. That may not seem so bad but when you compare a briar to a snake, you realize that it is like saying the prettiest dog of an ugly litter. It reminds me of what we know of the middle ages. None were on the earth except John the Beloved and the Three Nephite Disciples, that had the true Gospel. As such, there were none that knew how to please God the right way because none had a correct understanding of His character. Joseph Smith taught that in order to please Him, we have to have a correct understanding of who He is. Otherwise, we will do the wrong things in an attempt to please Him.
Think of it this way. A cat as a pet, thinks of his owner as a fellow cat. Albeit a strange, very tall one, but still a fellow cat. We know this because of the way that the cat treats his human. When the cat is pleased, he purs, just like he did with his mother when he was satisfied to let her know he was happy and satisfied. When he wants to bring his human a present, he brings something that would make him happy, a dead mouse, bird or other varmint. The cat does not have a correct understanding of his human and so cannot properly please him. Now, we understand the cat's intentions and shower him with love and praise but his gift does not truly please us. Likewise, we might get praise from God and He might assist us if we are doing the best we can, but without a proper understanding of who He is, we cannot give Him good gifts that He finds truly acceptable and enjoyable. We need to hold on to that knowledge and make sure we understand Him, otherwise, how can we become like Him? Until tomorrow.
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