Wednesday, June 20, 2018

A Wise Purpose


My first Sour Peppers commission! If you'd like to commission me to make a Sour Peppers entry to your specifications, check out my commissions page here.

Sometimes we are commanded to do things that may not seem to make sense according to our limited understanding. They may even be difficult or require sacrifice in order to do them. But we should remember that God knows all things. He knows how life will play out. Which is why we should listen when He speaks to us, and follow His guidance. It may be that He is helping us prepare for something bad that we don't know is coming. Or there may be an unseen reward later on. Mormon for example, the one writing this passage, was commanded to include the smaller record of Nephi to his abridgment. He may not have understood why, especially since the record of Lehi apparently included much of the same material. But it turned out to be a good thing that he did since the book of Lehi was lost. We are indebted to him for heeding the whisperings of the Spirit so that we have access to the many lessons taught by Nephi and his brethren. And of course, we are indebted to God for inspiring him to include the record. We should all likewise heed the promptings received from the Spirit, even when we don't understand why.

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Train up a child


As fathers, we have a responsibility to teach our children correct principles. If we do, we will equip them for the time when they have children of their own.
Some have asked, why does this passage say our children "will not depart from" the things we teach them? Are we depriving them of their agency by teaching them the Gospel or other things we believe to be true? I don't think so. However, I do believe that it means when we teach our children the Gospel, it will stay with them, even if they wander away from it. The choice will need to be their own, but the opportunity to return will always be open to them if we do our duty as parents and teach them by word and by example.
Happy Father's Day!

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Our Escape


Death and Hell--or Physical Death and Spiritual Death--are very aptly compared to a terrible monster, which we cannot hope to escape on our own. Thankfully, God prepared a way for us to escape. It is only through His Son, Jesus Christ, that we are able to escape. Because He laid down his life and took it up again, all mankind will be Resurrected one day; physical death will be conquered, and will have claim over us for only a short time before we too will be resurrected, our bodies perfected and reunited with our spirits, never to be parted again. Because He took upon Himself the sins and pains of the entire world in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Way has been prepared for our liberation from spiritual death as well. All we need to do is take hold, and not let go.