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. 

The Second Commandment

 The shortened version, the one most of us memorize, says, " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image"

The full text says, "4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)

Phew...that was a long one. What does all this mean? Is He only talking about something like the golden calf of the Israelites? Or does this go deeper? 

I believe it goes deeper. In today's world, many of us take time away from our Heavenly Father and our Savior and direct it to a myriad of other things: career, money, fame, personal body image, possessions, ... 

In Deuteronomy 6:5 we read, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Yet, when we take our worldly pursuit to an extreme, we enlist all our heart, soul, and might, to reach those "idols". In short, we are worshipping any likeness of anything "that is in the earth beneath" and moving away from God. 

Do we want to be so involved with pursuing and worshipping our worldly achievements that we put aside our pursuit of a relationship with our Heavenly Father and with our Savior? 

All of our worldly pursuits will have an end, but our relationship with our Heavenly Father and with our Savior will stand and continue through the eternities. In Matthew 6:19-21 the Savior tells us (and I paraphrase) to not accumulate things here on earth but to "lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven... for where [our] treasure is, there will [our] heart be also."

What takes up all of your heart, soul, and mind?

The First Commandment

 In Exodus chapter 20, the Lord reveals to Moses the Ten Commandments that the children of Israel were to follow. 

The first commandment is "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)

What does this mean? And why did God give us this commandment?

To me, this means that I am to love Him and serve Him the very best way I can. 
In Deuteronomy 6:5 it says, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." 

Why does He give us this commandment? Does He really need us and our love and service?
I believe that NO, He does not need us, but we need Him.
Each and every single person that has lived, is living, and will yet live upon this earth is His child and He wants us to have joy.
To help us, He has given us the commandments. All He has done, does, and will do in the future is for our benefit, our growth and progression, that we might return to His presence. 
Thinking again about this first commandment, when we choose to love and serve Him, our hearts change. We find that we no longer have disposition to think or act in opposition to His commandments, and to the directions He gives us.
And when we follow Him, with all our heart, soul, and might, we will be able to return to His presence.

I am not perfect. I am far from perfect, and I think I have made this statement before.
However, I also know that because of Him, and His commandments, my heart has changed and is changing. My desire to have Him as my God has increased. My desires to follow Him and serve Him, by serving others, have increased.

Will you join me in renewing our commitment to love Him and serve Him?

The Ten Commandments

 Anyone who grow up in a Christian Church has learned or, at the very least, has been exposed to the Ten commandments. 

In today's society, many of these commandments are overlooked or looked upon as "obsolete."

But are they "obsolete?" Are they something to be put aside and to allow them to collect dust in the recesses of our mind?

What do you think? What are your feelings about the Ten Commandments? Have your feelings changed over the years? 

I grew up Catholic. I learned the Commandments at school, given that I went to a school run by nuns. However, as years passed, I forgot them. Sure, I knew the general gist of them, but I could not list them in order and, for a few of them, I couldn't even remember the correct wording. I still can't.
I knew that some of them were "common sense," like the one that spoke of not killing or stealing.
But I never really took the time to study them and to understand them.

Lately, I've decided to learn them by memorizing them, studying them, and applying them in my life. I've decided that if I wanted to obey Heavenly Father with exactness, I needed to truly understand them, along with other Gospel principles and doctrines, and live them.

So, for the next few Sundays, I will write about the Commandments, one each Sunday. I will try to explain what they mean, and not just what the wording means, but what they mean to me and how I feel I can best follow them. 

For now, I would like to explain what the Ten Commandments are, not in my words, but in the words of others who are much more versed than I am in these sacred writings.

"The Ten Commandments are eternal gospel principles that are necessary for our exaltation. The Lord revealed them... [they are] a vital part of the gospel. Obedience to these commandments paves the way for obedience to other gospel principles." 

I know the Ten Commandments are not obsolete. We need them today more than ever. If we started to follow them wholeheartedly, we might not change the world, but we would definitely change ourselves. We would be able to find the peace that Jesus Christ has promised us. 

Will you join me in learning them and applying them in your life?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Today, I want to share my testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I joined back in 1982. It seems so long ago, yet if feels as if it happened only a little while ago, given that I have so much I still need to learn.

A few months ago, I decided I wanted to really work on my knowledge, understanding, and application of the teachings of the Gospel in my life. So, I began a personal program of study that spanned from the scriptures to the words of modern Prophets and Church Leaders, found in various Church publications.

I am not done and, honestly, I don't think one life would be enough to really understand and make my own the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. However, I am beginning to really understand the immense love that our Heavenly Father and Savior have for us. 

This love has been manifested from the beginning of time and continues today. Their love for us has been supporting us, guiding us, helping us, and rescuing us since the very beginning. 

Throughout the ages, men have worshipped the Father and the Son, then forgotten about Them, to return to worshipping Them (especially when times were hard - then, they would remember our Father in Heaven and our Savior, and the Prophets who testified of Them). 

This last dispensation has been no different from the previous ones, in regard to mankind forgetting about their origin and their destination. The teachings of the scriptures began to be modified, perhaps to make them easier to understand, of perhaps to fit a personal agenda. 

Because of this, many plain and precious truths were no longer taught correctly, if they were taught at all. Heavenly Father and the Savior knew that we needed those plain and precious truths restored. The Church as it was originally organized by our Savior while He was here on earth needed to be restored. 

Through a plain young boy, who was humble, teachable, and willing to do Their will, They restored The Church as it was when Jesus started it. 

I have a testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true organization established in these latter days, before the Second Coming of our Savior, to help us prepare for His Coming. By "us," I mean all mankind, all over the world, those who are already members of The Church, and those who are not. Those who already know about the Savior and those who are yet to know Him. 

The more I study the scriptures and the words of the Prophets, the more I pray, the more I serve others, whether within The Church or outside of it, the more I try to truly understand His will for me, the more I feel of Their love. 

I invite all who might be reading these words, to get in touch with the missionaries or with a friend who is a current member and ask them questions; ask them to share the Gospel with you. Heavenly Father and the Savior love you just as much as They love me, or the Prophet, and They, through the Holy Ghost, will testify of its truthfulness. 

We are all children of our Heavenly Father. The Savior came to earth and did all that he did for each and everyone of us. None excluded. 

I share this testimony in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Scriptures

Today, across the world, wherever members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will meet, testimonies will be shared.

Every first Sunday of the month, members of the Church share their testimonies of the Gospel, of Jesus Christ, of the blessings they receive. We do this, except for April and October, when the first weekend is spent listening to General Conference. I will expound on this later.

Today, I would like to share my own testimony. 
As I have begun reading the scriptures again, I had neglected them for a while, I received a testimony that they are true and that if we live by what we are taught in them, our lives will be better. Mind me, I said better, not necessarily easier. We will still have challenges, we will still experience hurt, sorrow, and/or pain. However, if we heed them, we will find the peace that we are promised within them.

The Scriptures "were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4) 

The scriptures testify of our Savior Jesus the Christ. The scriptures give us the blueprint to follow so that we can find peace and rest in our Savior, so that we can follow His example, so that we can feel of His infinite love for us. If we read them daily, if we set time aside to study and ponder them, we will have the Spirit with us to guide us and help us, just like the Savior has promised. If we read them daily, if we set time aside to study and ponder them, we will come to intimately know our Savior; we will feel close to Him, and we will want to follow Him. 

Of this I testify, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.