Read: 2 Nephi 4-7
Mark: 2 Nephi 4:15-16
"No father, no son, no mother, no daughter should get so busy that he or she does not have time to study the scriptures and the words of modern prophets. None of us should get so busy that we crowd out contemplation and praying." --President Spencer W. Kimball
To ponder:
What is it that brings a person to love the scriptures?
Reading and understanding them. To me it is knowledge and answers to so many questions and it brings me closer to Heavenly Fathers presence.
ReplyDeleteJenny, I was thinking exactly the same things as you! It is through reading, pondering and praying about the scriptures that we develop a great love for them--we truly begin to feast upon the words!
ReplyDeleteI feel that in 2 Nephi 4, we truly see Nephi and learn who he is as he bears his soul to us. I once read that this chapter is sometimes called "The Psalm of Nephi." I love what he says beginning in verse 26 where he is asking himself why am I so down when I have seen such great things? Why am I angry because of my enemy? And then he gives himself such great and wise counsel: Awake my soul! No longer droop in sin! We can learn so much from this chapter, and what a great reminder to us to no longer droop in sin but to wake up! I love that he prays that he will shake at even the appearance of sin!
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 5, Nephi just finally gets tired of Laman and Lemuel and their murmurings and threatening to kill him, and takes the righteous and moves on! And they prosper and are so happy!
The literal side of me just has to wonder how it was for Laman and Lemuel when they woke up one morning and all of a sudden their skin was dark! :) Can you imagine? What a sign!
Finally, I love it that Jacob was taught by his father, Lehi, and his brother, Nephi, to believe in God and to obey the commandments, and he shares this message with those around him!
I really love chapter 4. Reading these chapters today I couldn't help but think that it would be awesome if these narratives, psalms, soliloquies, were dramatized on a stage, Shakespearean style. I think sometimes we do such an injustice to the passion behind these written words when we read them to ourselves and even out loud. I would LOVE hearing a great actor recite these verses. I think even the few Isaiah verses we covered would be thrilling told by a great orator.
ReplyDeleteOh I totally agree! I think the church should hire Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones to record the Book of Mormon!
DeleteIn chapter 5 we see that Nephi constructed a temple for his people to worship God. And in verse 17 he "cause[d his] people to be industrious, and to labor with their hands." Why is hard work so important? We have to work to obtain anything of true worth--including our testimonies and a love for the scriptures. You can't develop that love for the scriptures without developing a habit for reading them. And not every time you read will be a thrilling or thought-provoking experience--sometimes you have to drag yourself through it! But as you do, you find that everything else becomes a little easier. Your burdens are a bit more tolerable. And you really begin to have your eyes and heart open to what you're reading.
ReplyDeleteThe scriptures are like many different books rolled up into one. You have drama, murder, mystery, good vs evil,and history. Every time you read scriptures you learn something new about yourself and/or your life. The Holy Spirit sometimes guides you to certain scriptures to make a point.
ReplyDeleteHeavenly Father wants us to keep learning about the past so we don't repeat it in the future. He wants us to find the answers ourselves in His word. Just like Nephi's people, He wants us to build a life on the strong foundation of His word. If we do not walk with Him in the light, then we are of the darkness. Nothing grows in the dark.
All of you have hit on so many good ways to learn to love the scriptures. I'll repeat and maybe add some new thoughts to the discussion. I definitely think understanding them is important. Instead of just reading the words - imagine the people and events in action. Imagine Nephi breaking his bow and searching out the materials to putting together the new one - imagine Lehi coming from his tent and finding the Liahona (after murmuring) etc. Know that these are not stories - that these people existed and the events are a history and not a fiction.
ReplyDeleteAnother way to learn to love them is to apply them to yourself. And when we are asked to do this it doesn't mean to think about the people around you who could use a good reading of the scriptures and could do this or that - it means to read and ponder what you can do differently. There have been at least two times that I have read through the scriptures and written what I call a Prophyscope (maybe that's not very appropriate...). These are written in a horoscope format but are directly based on each chapter in the Book of Mormon. So I would read a chapter then write a synopsis of what I thought Lehi, Nephi, Alma etc were telling ME to do - not anyone else, ME. The Book of Mormon was written for my day - so what am I going to do about it.
The last thing I can do to love the scriptures better is something I just started noticing - I am happier and calmer and all around just a better person when I read the scriptures. So I have learned to love the scriptures better by recognizing their fruits - their effects - the blessings I gain from simply reading them daily. I can directly correlate the degree of patience I have with my girls with whether or not I have read my scriptures daily.... :)
I love the scriptures! I am learning to love them more! Thank you for this Book of Mormon book club! :)