Well, it's been a hot second since I last wrote an article. I've had many thoughts that I should write again. Sometimes life throws you a curveball, and other times you take an unexpected line drive to the face. I am going to start writing again, mostly for myself and for my own healing.
I've decided to approach my articles a little differently. In the past, I would isolate a particular topic, study it for a time, and then write down some thoughts. It was a fantastic way to study, but very time-consuming to write. With the introduction of the new Come Follow Me resource I've had the thought to change my method of writing. I'll merely articulate a few simple thoughts from my study, topics discussed in church, or my discussions with my peers. I hope that with this new method of writing my little messages become an impetus for further individual study and pondering. With that introduction, here are my thoughts from this week.
February 11-17
John 2-4
"Ye Must Be Born Again"
1) Water to Wine
2) Faith, Hope, and Charity
3) Living Water in Imperfect Vessels
Water to Wine
In John 2:1-11 Christ turned water into wine for a wedding feast. As I was thinking about the process of turning water into wine, I had the thought that the real miracle here is the Lord's control over time. If they needed juice or even more food, people could be gathered and the juice prepared or the food made. They would've just required manpower and supplies. But the process of creating wine takes, above all, time. Wine properly aged takes years, decades. Even cheap wine takes months at least. We know from the reaction of the governor at the feast that Christ created the best wine, the type that would've taken years and years to properly age.
Some processes in our lives also take years.
- Growth
- Change
- Repentance
- Healing
- Learning
- Forgiving
These are just a few.
Christ has the ability to "quicken" these processes through the Spirit. Sometimes He allows us to spend longer than we desire in the process of change. That's inevitably for our benefit. But He has the power to hurry those along when the time is right, but only if we genuinely turn ourselves over to Him. He will not intercede without us allowing Him access to our lives.
Faith, Hope, and Charity
In sacrament meeting this last week the topic was Hope; a principle of which I sorely needed to be reminded. As I pondered the messages I thought of an analogy that helps me understand the relationship between faith, hope, and charity. It's simple, and you're welcome to poke it full of holes, but I like it.
Let's say we're all lost in mists of darkness. Welcome to mortal life, right? Our journey through the darkness is our life.
- Faith is the belief that there exists a glorious destination because of the covenants we have made with God and our living worthy of those blessings. We cannot see the destination itself, that's when faith turns from belief to perfect knowledge. But we believe it is out there somewhere. Faith leads us to action, we would not move through the darkness without the belief that there is a glorious destination.
- Hope is the belief that we can make the journey. To have faith is to believe there is a destination out there, but we can get weighed down by the adversary telling us that we can't make it. Hope is what keeps our feet moving forward toward the blessings and light promised us.
- Charity is how we act along the way. If we believe in a destination, believe we can get there, move towards it, and then treat our fellow brothers and sisters like dirt along the path then we have lost sight of the reason behind the journey in the first place. "[B]ut the greatest of these is charity."
Living Water in Imperfect Vessels
Christ said to the woman at the well, "whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
We can "drink" of this water by reading the scriptures, listening to the words of modern prophets and apostles, seeking personal revelation, etc. It then becomes a "well of water" inside of us as we regularly ponder those words and messages, continually blessing us and allowing God the opportunity to give us more of His word directly into our hearts via the Holy Ghost.
Why then do we need to continually drink? Because we are imperfect vessels. Sin, apathy, mortal forgetfulness all poke holes in the vessels of our spirit. Without regular replenishing the living water we internalize slowly drains out of us. Going to church, daily personal scripture study, regular repentance, prayer, temple attendance, etc. all serve to keep our internal wells "topped off" with living water. We access that inner well through pondering and seeking regular guidance from the Spirit.
Keep Pushing On,
Andrew
