Friday, June 6, 2003

3 Nephi 13:22-23

"The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, they whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.  If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
3 Nephi 13:22-23




This is interesting to me.  I don't know if I completely understand it, but I was thinking about it today and thought it would be a good message.  It seems to me that you can interpret it to mean that if your outlook is full of light, you are going to see truth and light in whatever you look at.  You will see the good in people, and you will find the good in life... and eventually you will be filled with good yourself, because that is what you look for and see all around you.  If you look for evil though, you will definitely find it, and we have a tendency to become what we are thinking about and looking for.  Today, let's look for the light and truth in everything around us, and we'll find it in ourselves.

Thursday, June 5, 2003

Acts 7:39

"To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt."
Acts 7:39


I like this scripture.  Often our choices are more subtle than the one that Lot's Wife made.  Her turning back was physical, and the consequences obvious.  The children of Israel, though perhaps equally reluctant, didn't turn back physically.  Instead, they turned back in their hearts... to their old habits and desires.  Turning back either way is dangerous of course, but sometimes we don't notice our hearts turning because the consequences aren't as physically noticeable.  We don't instantly turn into a pillar of salt, for instance. :) Perhaps we still attend church, we still fulfill our callings... but somewhere inside, we're allowing our hearts to turn back to former ideas and addictions.  Maybe we start to turn to salt spiritually. :)  The chemical change is much slower and more subtle, but it is just as serious.  Let's examine our hearts today, and make sure that no salt is seeping in... that they are headed in the right direction.  We might think that we are secure, but if we don't continue to practice our religion and exercise our faith each day, our spiritual muscles will atrophy, and we'll become weak.  Pray.  Read your scriptures.  Put some effort into the gospel today, and don't let your heart turn back. :)