Anyway, all of that was simply to lead up to me saying that this blog will not be a chapter by chapter kind of thing. I set aside an hour each day for scripture study and read to where ever I can. Might I say that most mornings I do not end up with an hour to study, I just keep the hour between 5am and 6am in my mind as 'scripture study time' because whenever I put aside 15 minutes it somehow dwindles down to 5 minutes, and I end up frustrated. Many, many mornings my hour is cut short by one thing or another. I don't set an alarm. I just naturally wake up early, so sometimes I over sleep, or my sweet children rise earlier than they should (especially Isaac), and I put aside my scriptures to snuggle because I have already been able to study for at least 20 minutes or so. I enjoy that one on one time, so it all works out.
Today, one of the scriptures that jumped out at me was 1 Nephi 2:1, the part that reads:
"Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to take away they life."I noticed how Lehi did as the Lord commanded and yet the people didn't welcome him with open arms and repent, they wanted to kill him. I imagine that if I were Lehi, I would feel like I had failed. And probably, being me, I would feel like someone else could have done a much better job. Yet, the Lord is happy with Lehi because he did what Heavenly Father wanted him to do. He says that Lehi is 'blessed.' This is why the scriptures bring me peace. They constantly remind me that even though things aren't perfect with my life, it doesn't mean I have failed. If I can just remember what is most important, do my best, and repent when I make mistakes, which is often, then Heavenly Father will be happy with me too. And so, shouldn't I be happy with myself?
I read something recently that talked about the "blessed" thing. The idea was that it is actually a name-title, one that we should be seeking (among other titles/names such as Son or Daughter of God - John 1:2 - savior on Mount Zion - Obad. 1:21 - saints of God - 1 Neph. 14:12 - "member" of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - D&C20:84 - member of the Church of the Firstborn - D&C 76:94 - Redeemed - Gal. 3:13). Our earthly existence centers around gather titles and names. Our Savior set the example - think of the plethora of names and titles he acquired!
ReplyDeleteI find that outward results are not necessarily a good way to gauge success or failure. If I am obedient, and the world falls apart around me, I can still be Blessed, Redeemed, Saint, Savior on Mount Zion, Mother, Daughter, Sister, Wife.... We learn more from our failures, I think, than from our successes. Or perhaps we learn the more important things from our failures - meekness, humility, faith, trust. Whereas success has a tendency to breed those things we're trying to steer clear of - pride, self-righteousness, a false sense of security in the "arm of flesh". I am always seeking to hear the words "Blessed art thou"...I'm with you - I KNOW there are ALWAYS more qualified and better prepared/equipped people out there that will do a better job than I, but I am the only one who can learn lessons for ME, and those lessons always come better in doing myself than in watching someone else do it better than I could. :)
I know what you mean about learning so much from our failures. And, I loved the point you made about being the only one that can learn lessons for yourself. I often have to remind myself that the same is true for those I love, they must learn for themselves too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, as I love how they make me ponder things.
DeleteOut of curiosity, where did you read that about the name-title?
Amber, Denver Snuffer is the person who suggested the name-title accumulation idea. In his book called "Beloved Enos".
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