January 7, 2011

Tonight I read and thought about one verse in The Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 18:18. It says, "ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." The phrase that I thought about was that Satan desires to have me so he can sift me like wheat. I am not totally sure what it means to sift wheat and would like to learn more about it so as to understand this analogy better. But as far as I can think, one sifts wheat to separate the good kernels from the bad. The bad is tossed aside, not good enough to be used for anything. So why would Satan desire to sift me like wheat? The analogy could mean he desires to divide us against each other. Or it could be that he desires "the good wheat" as much as God does, but for different reasons... perhaps so he can take that good wheat and toss it out and make sure it is never used for anything good. Pondering this verse really makes me want to learn more about sifting wheat so I can understand what this scripture is saying. Why does Satan want me so much? I know he wants to keep me separated from God, love and anything that brings eternal happiness. I am grateful for the gospel and the protection I have of the Spirit so as not to "enter into Satan's temptations."