June 7, 2010

Well, I didn't write yesterday, but I did read a chapter in the Book of Mormon from where I'm at there, Alma 13, before I went to sleep. I found it ironic that in that chapter was the very scripture I made reference to a few days ago: "Behold, the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction." Well, I just followed some footnotes around and discovered the actual meaning of the word "wrest." It means to twist or distort. I have used it in the context of the spelling "rest," with the idea that if I am not picking up and reading from the scriptures, it will lead me away from God. I am glad I followed this footnote because understanding this meaning of the word "wrest" helps too. It is an important reminder that the scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit and the meaning of them is not to be changed.

Anyway, today for my gospel study I am going to read in the Gospel Principles manual, chapter 7 on the Holy Ghost. There are two questions in the manual that I want to answer. Why did Adam and Eve need the guidance of the Holy Ghost? And how is our need for guidance from the Holy Ghost similar to that of Adam and Eve? My answer is that because we have been separated from the presence of God, because of Adam and Eve's choice, and because we have the veil over our eyes, we need the guidance of the Holy Ghost so that we can be taught by the Lord and sot hat we can receive a testimony that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ and that we can return to live with them and be like them. I am thankful for the role of the Holy Ghost in my life. I am thankful that, like it quotes Joseph Fielding Smith in the manual, "through the Holy Ghost the truth is woven into the very fibre and sinews of the body so that it cannot be forgotten."

As I was reading some of the additional scriptures listed, I read Luke 12:2 which says, "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known." (Haha! I wondered what that scripture had to do with the Holy Ghost and I just realized as I was writing down the reference that I had read the wrong verse. The manual refers to Luke 12:12 which is about the Holy Ghost. But I really liked the scripture I read and wanted to comment on it. I've always found comfort in this teaching, knowing that anything that I do not understand now, that one day I will understand. Another way that this teaching impacts my life is that I know that there is nothing that I do or think in "secret" that won't one day be revealed in the light, if I have not repented of it. So I always try to live my life, my personal, private life, honorably because I know that nothing will be hid forever.