The Iron Rod

This might be my last post about what I read in the Ensign this month. No promises. :-)  As you know, I have been very persistent in encouraging those of you who read my blog to study your scriptures and pray on a daily basis.  I really believe that is key to navigating through mortality.

I really like analogies and teaching gospel principles using analogies.  Similar to the way the Savior taught using parables.  One of my favorite analogies in the scriptures is that of Lehi's dream.  Since Lisa just did an excellent family home evening lesson on this subject, I guess it has been on my mind recently.

In Lehi's dream the iron rod-- which represents the word of God -- leads to the tree of life representing the love of God and eternal life.  Many people grasp the iron rod and follow it to the tree of life.  Some people are lost along the way. Perhaps they let go of the iron rod momentarily and got lost in temptation or felt ashamed because of the mocking of those in the great and spacious building.  Some people make it to the tree and partake of the fruit and are lost afterwards.  And some people don't even get close to the iron rod -- but spend their lives in the great and spacious building.

Lisa pointed out during her lesson that even those who cling to the iron rod find themselves lost because of the mists of darkness -- or temptations which lead them away.  To me these are people who occasionally read their scriptures when it's convenient.  Or perhaps have good intentions but don't follow through.  Just like physical nourishment is required daily -- in fact most people nourish their bodies at least three times a day--  spiritual nourishment, in the form of scripture study, is also required on a daily basis to stay spiritually healthy.

Interestingly the wording in Lehi's dream for those who make it to the tree of life and partake of the fruit and do not fall away is that they held fast to the iron rod.  To me that means they never let go -- they held on for dear life.  These are people who were diligent in feasting upon the word of God daily.  That's my take on it.

President Benson said: "My dear brethren, this is an answer to the great challenge of our time. The word of God, as found in the scriptures, in the words of living prophets, and in personal revelation, has the power to fortify the Saints and arm them with the Spirit so they can resist evil, hold fast to the good, and find joy in this life."  -- President Ezra Taft Benson, "The Power of the Word", April 1986

So because of the great importance of daily scripture study, I want to relate a couple of stories that I read recently.  The first is from this month's Ensign. I will paraphrase the first part of the story -- but you can click on the link at the bottom and read the entire story if you wish.  It's not very long.

A young man who was raised in the church decided, as a teenager, that he didn't want anything to do with the church anymore.  And because he knew his family would be disappointed in him, he decided to join the military to get away.  Before he left, his mother gave him a military set of scriptures to carry with him.

Over the next several years this young man advanced in the military as a medic.  He did not live gospel standards.  He chose to live a riotous life for many years.  Eventually, seeing the destruction of war and death took its toll on him and he desired to change.

Despite having vowed to never have anything to do with the Church again, he carried around those military scriptures his mother gave him for 10 years.  Never having opened them. One night after realizing his own mortality after a close brush with death, he decided to open The Book of Mormon and start reading.  Here's what he said:

"The change was not instant, but over several weeks, as I read the scriptures daily, I recognized that fear no longer ruled my life. I still had no intention of returning to church and still believed the lie that I was beyond saving, but I was willing to read. At some point I read Alma 32:26–27, which forever altered my life:

“Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge—even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.

“But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.”

"I had no faith or hope, but I had the “desire to believe” that I could be forgiven of my sins through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I began to “experiment” as directed in the scriptures. It took many months after I returned home for me to gain a testimony of the gospel and follow the steps required to receive forgiveness of my sins.

"I still suffer consequences from some of my unrighteous decisions, but I no longer carry the burden of past transgressions. Today I know and testify that Christ atoned for my sins, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that following the precepts taught within its covers will guide us in all we should do. I am so grateful for that."  -- Eric Carter, Book of Mormon in Battlefield, January 2015 Ensign

The second story I want to relate to you is from a devotional by Sheri Dew.  She relates the story of a friend whose life was turned around by scripture study.

Sister Dew said: "I have a lifelong friend whose teenage tampering with pornography evolved into a deadly addiction, and for years it has ruled him and ravaged his marriage. Frankly, I had lost hope that he would ever really change.

"And then, a year ago, a remarkable sequence of events began to unfold. He began to study the scriptures for the first time since his mission. The word of God pierced his heart, and he knew he had to repent—which involved heart-wrenching confessions and subsequent excommunication. Now he is working his way back by immersing himself in the gospel as never before.

"He wrote me this recently:

It was when I began to study the gospel that I realized I had been under Satan’s power for years. When I finally got on my knees, pleaded for help to change, and surrendered my sins to the Lord, my world turned upside down. This past year has been a crash course in the ways of God and His Son. It has been the most difficult but wonderful year of my life. I wish I could tell everyone who is in a situation like I was to not be afraid to surrender to the Lord. They will find joy like never before in His Atonement. They will feel the Father wrap His arms around them. They will discover there is power in the gospel to really change.

"Some may be skeptical about this man’s transformation, believing that “once addicted, always addicted.” But that is not true. The gospel has the power to cleanse and make new, because the word “is quick and powerful,” it “divide[s] asunder all the cunning . . . of the devil,” and it “lead[s] the man of Christ” home (Helaman 3:29). The Atonement is real. My friend is evidence of that. His great change is the change that comes with conversion.

"Do you know what we believe? Do you know there is power in the doctrine of Christ to change and overcome weakness? Do you realize that the scriptures contain the answer to every life dilemma? A casual understanding of the gospel will not sustain you through the days ahead, which is why it is imperative that you immerse yourself in the word of God."...

"There is power in the word to heal our wounded souls (see Jacob 2:8), to help us overcome temptation (see 1 Nephi 11:25), to prompt us to repent (see Jarom 1:12), to humble us (see Alma 32:14), to help us overcome the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19), to bring about a mighty change in our hearts (see Alma 5:13), and to lead us to Christ."  --You Were Born to Lead, You Were Born for Glory, Sheri L. Dew, December 9, 2003, BYU Devotional

The Scriptures are very powerful.  The Book of Mormon records:

"And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else..." Alma 31:5

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”  -- The Book of Mormon, Introduction

And one last quote by the current President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Boyd K. Packer:

"The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior." --President Boyd K. Packer, “Little Children,” Ensign, November 1986, 17

It is my prayer that we all realize the power and importance of daily scripture study in not only producing a mighty change of heart in those who have strayed and desire to return to Christ but also to keep us all on the straight and narrow path leading to eternal life by strengthening our conversion and feeding our spiritual souls.

Hold fast to the iron rod!

That's my two cents.