Hebrews 12:25-29

"See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire."
Hebrews 12:25-29


I love this scripture... it is written as a warning, but it says so much more than that.  It's talking about Christ, and how some people rejected him on Earth, and even though he is in Heaven now, we have to give heed to his words from there as well... the part that is just amazing to me is the shaking part... where he says that he will shake not only the earth but also heaven.  I think there is another scripture talking about the last days that talks about Christ arising to "shake terribly the earth" or something like that... (okay, I didn't want to feel stupid so I just looked it up... Isaiah 2:19 and 2:21 and then 2 Nephi 12:19 and 21 as well.) Anyway... I like that here it says why the earth is being shaken... and really, I think, why all the end-of-the-world destruction will happen.  ... so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.  Isn't that a vivid image of what is eternal?  Builders now, especially in earthquake-prone California, try to build "earthquake-proof" buildings... sinking the foundations lower, framing it with sturdier and more flexible material... I'm not sure all the things they do.  But maybe it is something that we should think about... making ourselves earthquake-proof. :)  If today the earth was shaken terribly... what would be left?  Since God's shaking is probably way off the Richter scale, and way beyond the government minimum safety specifications for buildings... I'll bet most of them are going to topple.  Houses will cave, roads will be broken up... and what will be left?  Maybe not even us.  But our marriages will remain intact, if performed in the temple... our knowledge, our testimonies, our compassion, our hope.   Joseph Smith said that we'll still have socialization, so maybe we will get to hang out with our friends. :)  Relationships can survive... and parts of us.  The good parts. :)  Just like the very last verse where it tells us that God is a consuming fire... the scriptures use that analogy a lot... but what he does is purify us with that fire... burning off the corruption and the evil within our souls, until we are pure and clean and able to withstand any fire... and any shaking. :)  Not that I want us all to be afraid of imminent destruction... at all.  But it is good to look at what, in our lives, is temporary, and what is eternal... and make sure we are building something that lasts.