John 1:14 -- On Dreams and Doing

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
John 1:14

I talk about ideas a lot... how this or that idea in the scriptures is powerful, and something we should think about and incorporate into our lives.  And it's true... the ideas and scriptural stories that God blesses us with are awesome, and can help us understand and better sort out all of the things that we encounter in our daily lives.  But here's the hard part: we actually have to make that transition from idea to reality.  It's so, so tempting to live in that world of ideas, to contemplate what a Zion society would be like, to dream of heaven, to look forward to the resurrection of immortality and perfect health.  Those things are good.  But we also have to go farther, as God illustrates here.  We can't just read the story of the way things can and should be.  We have to do as God did, and make the word flesh--real.  It all has to be more than an idea... it has to come alive, and be part of the way we breathe and eat and live.  Christ made the idea of a Savior come to life, and saved us all, which he couldn't have done in the idea stage.  He had to *do* it.

God makes his ideas and his words come alive every day.  He is dedicated to it.  He fulfils all the prophecies.  He carries out his intentions, and brings to pass his plans for the world, for our happiness and salvation.  He reinforces the truth of everything in the scriptures and prophecies by what he actually does in our lives.  He doesn't just say "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18), he does it.  And isn't that one of the vast differences between God and man?  With God there are no empty words.  Today, perhaps we can work on following in his footsteps... on living our ideals, on following through on our intentions.  On doing what we dream.