1 Nephi 13:37 -- On Being Beautiful on the Mountains

"And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be."
1 Nephi 13:37


I like this vision of the beauty of people who join God in his work to build up Zion.  Even better, we can be part of it.  The mountain part is similar to a verse in Isaiah that says "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good" (Isaiah 52:7).  We can *be* the people with the beautiful feet upon the mountains.

How do we do that?  God helps us out here with a lot of clues:

• We need to seek to bring forth Zion... to be Zion people, to build a Zion community, patterned after the city of Zion as described in Moses 7:18: "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them."  In other words, we need to seek unity and equality with others--to love each other and not set one group before or above another.  
• We need to have the gift and power of the Holy Ghost in our lives, which means we need to be living worthy of having the Spirit in our lives.  That means repentance and obedience, and a lot of prayer, for starters. :)
• We need to endure to the end.  That means commitment to God for the long haul, as a lifestyle, not a "well, we'll try this until it gets boring or hard" disposable hobby.
• We need to spread God's word, including and especially messages of peace and joy.  That probably precludes preaching fire and brimstone and condemning the world through our mighty Facebook comments. :)  Instead, let's publish peace and joy and love. :)

I love in Isaiah's version where it talks about "good tidings of good."  How awesome is that?  I think that is a good thing to try today.  Let's let go of the negativity and the hopelessness that we feel about the world or our personal circumstances, and let's focus on and embrace the positive, spreading good tidings of good.  That alone can change our day, and if we keep at it, it can change the world.  Let's do our part to be beautiful upon the mountains today and build up Zion.