Random thoughts on this Sabbath

Today I had some random thoughts that I thought I would share.

First of all, this morning while I was getting ready, Mom and I watched a talk on BYU TV by Terry Ball. I found it quite interesting and insightful. Believe it or not I took a whole course in institute on Isaiah. I don’t remember much, sadly. But the talk this morning was all about Isaiah and I learned quite a bit.

One thing I found interesting is how Isaiah distinguishes the mortal Messiah from the millennial Messiah. In speaking of the mortal Messiah, Isaiah speaks of a tender plant.

Isaiah 53:2
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

The Savior’s first coming was not in power and glory as His second coming will be. But, He was born in humble circumstances. He was raised by mortal parents. Many people did not believe Him. Yet He was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. I liked Isaiah’s analogy using a tender plant when referring to the mortal Messiah. Yet when speaking of the millennial Messiah, Isaiah speaks of reining in righteousness and all people will know who He is. The second coming of the Savior will be much different than the first.

Another interesting reference from Isaiah is from Chapter 33. Brother Ball in referring to verse 15 mentions the phrase, “stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood” and “shutteth his eyes from seeing evil”. I have included versus 14 through 17 for completion.

Isaiah 33:14-17
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.

17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

So what do these two phrases that Isaiah uses mean? Brother Ball suggests that Isaiah is referring to violence and more specifically our desire for or even acceptance of or tolerance of violence and other evil practices portrayed as entertainment.

Brother Ball mentioned that perhaps Isaiah saw Temple recommend holding members of the Church standing in line at the movie theater waiting to see violent and/or otherwise evil practices.

I think this is a big problem within the Church. For some reason, members of the Church still flock to the movie theaters and/or video rental stores and watch movies that we’ve been counseled numerous times to avoid. I’ve already done a blog post about this subject but let me reiterate that if a movie is not conducive to the spirit and is “good except for…” then we should not be wasting our time watching it. Not only is it idling our time away, but it drives the spirit away and desensitizes our own spirits. If “bad parts” of movies don’t bother you, then you need to change your behaviors because they should bother you.

On another note, in Sunday school today we jumped ahead one week because we had a substitute and the teacher had already prepared lesson three so she asked the substitute to teach lesson four. Anyway, the subject came up about Facebook. Now, those of you who know me, know what I think about Facebook. This probably isn’t an appropriate subject to discuss in gospel doctrine, but nonetheless, it was discussed.

The teacher said that she thinks Facebook is a tool of the devil. And I have to agree wholeheartedly. We did have some Facebook freaks pipe up and defend Facebook and say they use it for posting Mormon messages etc. But anyway, the teacher’s point was that even if you are a stellar member of the church, Facebook, at best, is idling your time away.

She mentioned one of her nieces or someone she knew who is the mother of three young children. Her Facebook page said “so-and-so needs three sheep” or whatever it says when you play those time wasting Farm games. And the Sunday school teacher thought to herself, “no, so-and-so needs to feed her three kids lunch”.

I understand that Facebook can be a good way to keep in touch/get in touch with friends and relatives but far too many people spend way too much time idling their life away, or worse. Many families have been broken up because of Facebook.

My last random thought of the day is how grateful I am to have the gospel. There are so many people in the world who have no purpose to their life.

I was talking with my brother about his gig the other day. He mentioned that the same people were there in the casino that were there last time he was there playing a gig with his band. It’s really quite sad that people have nothing better to do with their lives than to go to casinos every weekend.

Even before I talked with my brother I was thinking about some of my relatives who are not members of the church. Their whole lives revolve around sports and other useless selfish endeavors. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like sports but, my life doesn’t revolve around sports. Once in while it is good to have a recreational outlet. We all need to relax and relieve stress once in a while. But, to have that be the focus of your life, is just plain sad. I know there are people whose self-worth and self identity are tied to and determined by whether “their team” wins or loses. That’s pretty pathetic.

But, most of these people don’t have the gospel, and therefore have no real purpose to their life. Their lives are focused on self gratification. I know there are a lot of people who do much good in the world, whether members of the church, or not. There are a lot of people who give of themselves and help others. But, there are also a lot of people who selfishly idle their time away because they have no real purpose in life. It makes me sad.

It also makes me extremely grateful to have the gospel. I’m so thankful for my testimony of Jesus Christ. I’m grateful for the plan of salvation. I feel extremely lucky to be one of the very few people on earth who are members of the true Church of Jesus Christ. I’m so thankful for my knowledge and understanding of basic Gospel doctrines. I am truly blessed.

These are just a few of my thoughts on this Sabbath Day.

That’s my two cents.