The Fourth Commandment

 In the KJV (King James' Version) of the Bible, Exodus 20: 8-11, we read:

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

The part we memorize is verse 8: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Then follow the reasons given for this commandment. 

Verse 10 tells us the things we should refrain from doing in order to keep the day holy.

I feel that these "do nots" were given because the Lord knew we needed to rest and recover from the labors of the week. We needed a day to recover not only physically, but also spiritually. 

So, we have read what we should refrain from doing on the Sabbath day, but what about the things that we should do? What are the things that lift us and feed us spiritually?
The answer is simple: we should do anything that brings us closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and we do this when we follow His example.

When we participate in our worship services, visit the sick and the lonely, study the scriptures, comfort someone in need of comfort, we are going to fill our spiritual vessel; we are coming closer to our Savior.

After all, in Matthew 25: 35-40, we read:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Now, are these things to be done only on the Sabbath? No, of course not. We should strive to serve others every day. However, these are things that we could incorporate in the day set aside by the Lord to help us physically and spiritually. These are things that can help us "remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."

What things do you like to do to obey the fourth commandment?

A Mess of Pottage - Genesis 25

I know I said I was going to talk about the commandments for the next few Sundays, but today I heard a talk in Sacrament Meeting that really touched my heart and made me think. In a way, this post does connect to the commandments, as you will see.

In Genesis 25:23-31, we read of the story of Esau and Jacob. Esau was the firstborn and thus he had the birthright which, at the passing of the father, meant he would inherit most of the father's possessions and the duty to care for the family. 

In the scriptural account, Esau returned from his hunting expedition and was famished. His brother Jacob had just cooked some pottage (whether it was stew or lentils or something else is not important to know) and Esau asked for a plate. Jacob agreed in exchange for Esau's birthright. Esau figured that if he was not going to eat, he was going to die and, therefore, the birthright would not do him any good anyway.

In the talk, Monica explained that the mess of pottage represented the immediate gratification and what lost Esau his birthright. She then posed the question: "what is your mess of pottage?"

In today's world there are many "mess of pottage." There is greed, lust, covetousness, evil speaking against others, so on and so forth. If you look at the commandments, all these "mess of pottage" are mentioned. See? I did say this post was going to connect to the commandments. 

So now, I am going to ask the same question, "what is the thing, or things, that take precedence over following Christ and His teachings?
What is (or are) your "mess of pottage?"
What thing(s) do you choose for instant gratification over the final reward, which is life eternal after following God's plan for you?
Are you going to be like Esau and give up your blessings and responsibilities for something that is of secondary importance, or are you going to follow the Savior?
Do you, like Esau, think that if you do not gratify yourself with your "mess of pottage," you are going to die?

I challenge each of us to look at what we daily choose and evaluate if our choice brings us closer to our Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ, or if it takes us farther away from Him.

Please, Don't trade your birthright for anything!

Next Sunday, I will resume with the commandments. I wish all a great week.

The Third Commandment

 Exodus 20:7 gives us the third commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

If we truly believe in Him, we will display a reverent attitude towards Him and anything that belongs to Him, including His name. What belongs to Him? EVERYTHING! I feel that the only thing that belongs to us is our agency. 

Having said that, to me, this commandment means that we should show respect towards Him, His name, His attributes. It means that we should not use His name and anything else that describes Him in a profane way, not even in a joke that is meant to be funny.
How many of us are guilty of using His name in a derogatory way when angered? And sometimes not even when angered, but just out of apathy or ignorance and without giving it a second thought? How many of us are guilty of speaking of Him lightheartedly? 

These questions bring the following questions: how can we profess to believe in Him and pray to Him, when we use His name in vain? How can we call upon His name to help us and a moment later show Him disrespect?

Elder LeGrand Richards shared the following, in "The Third Commandment", The Ten Commandments Today: "Profanity is incompatible with reverence. Surely at this critical time in our nation's history, when we need the sustaining help of God, we should see that we do not offend him by reason of our language."

Elder Richards passed away in 1983. I am not sure when he wrote the above-mentioned work, but it was at least 42 years ago. Isn't his statement just as valid today?

So now I am going to ask ourselves a few last questions to ponder upon:
In what other ways do we take His name in vain?
What things can we start doing (or stop doing) to follow this commandment?
How are we going to use our agency in regard to this commandment?

Each question has multiple answers. It is up to each and every one of us to discover them and apply them in our lives.