Scripture Power!

Recently one of my friends commented that she’d learned nothing in all her years of Sunday School, apart from a general admonition to “Be Good”. At the time, I remember thinking, ‘Boy! If you’d had ME for a Sunday School teacher, you would have had fun and learned a lot more than that!’.

Okay, don’t laugh. I’m not a particularly hot-shot teacher, but I do have a love for the scriptures and recognize they have had an impact for good in my life, and not just to “be good”, but to do good. It’s a legacy from my father, who was a Gospel Doctrine Sunday School teacher most of his adult life. He loved the scriptures and got excited about the things he learned there. His excitement was infectious, and made me want to read and find out these things for myself.  (Thanks, Daddy!)



The Prophet Isaiah

 I love the people I’ve met from the great stories in the scriptures and the truths I’ve learned through their life experiences: Hannah & her son Samuel who became a great prophet in Israel; Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were men of integrity; the great prophet Isaiah who saw the Savior in vision; or father Abraham who was promised that through his seed all the earth would be blessed.

 



Jesus Calling His Disciples

Then there are the wonderful stories of Jesus from the New Testament. How can you not be profoundly touched by his message and ministry, his death and resurrection? How can you not be moved by the miraculous conversion and subsequent ministry of the Apostle Paul?


Nephi and His Family



The Book of Mormon offers another testimony of Jesus Christ. There are also marvelous stories and people to be met there: Nephi, whose own brothers made his life miserable, but who saw the virgin Mary in vision as a young man and proclaimed the condescension of God; Ammon who defended the flocks of King Lamoni and changed lives with his testimony; Captain Moroni the great defender of freedom; or Alma, who repented of his sins and changed the course not just of his own life, but of his people’s history.



Ammon



These people have been my companions all my life, and my life is better because of it.

It was Jesus who commanded “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39)

So the question, I guess, is this: If you think the scriptures are holy writ, that they are truly God’s word, why put them on a shelf and forget about them? I have friends who find my old, underlined and beat up scriptures an anathema. I guess it’s all in perspective. To my mind, if God writes something, or causes something to be written, it might be a good idea to read it, study it, ponder it! Who honors God more, the person who keeps a set of pristine scriptures on a shelf and never looks at them – or the person who reads them over and over and studies them until the book is worn and falling apart?

Have you read the Old and New Testaments cover to cover?

Have you read the Book of Mormon?

These books can change your life.

I challenge you to make scripture reading a daily habit. And I promise you, that if you do, you will grow in your testimony of Jesus Christ and have the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help you with the concerns of your daily life.