We had a thought provoking lesson in Sunday School today. Well, at least it has provoked my thoughts! The text was from Deuteronomy, when Moses is preparing his people for his upcoming death. He's been through a lot with these people. Called by God to be their prophet/leader, he's tried his best to lead them from Egypt to the promised land. Forty years of wandering in the wilderness has been the result of rebelliousness and disobedience. This calling was not one Moses asked for, in fact he did his best to convince the Lord that he wasn't the right one for the job. Chapter after chapter, we read of a people who do not trust God for their deliverance (even when they've witnessed parting seas, food drops from heaven, water brought forth from a rock, etc.). Moses must have wanted to give up so many times. But when you serve people, you love them, even when they make you crazy and you just want to shake them! And now as he prepares to leave them, he's reminding them of the lessons he's taught and the miracles they have witnessed. He wants them to remember to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls and might. In the sixth chapter of Deuteronony he tells them to teach their children these things, to talk about them in their homes, as they go about their daily round, when they get up in the morning and when they lie down at night to remember to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls and might. And to help them remember, they are to have visual reminders in their homes, on their doorposts and even on the clothes they wear. This is important stuff. Everything they've experienced in their wilderness experience has brought them to this point. They have been given the ten commandments and many other laws to keep them focused on their God and his gospel. God knows it is in their nature to forget Him, and He is telling them through their prophet to do these things, to help them remember.
It's easy enough to read through this history and judge those Israelites for their lack of faith (especially since we know how the story ends). I mean really, we wouldn't wander around in the wilderness like they did for forty years. Surely, if we had seen the miracles and witnessed the power of God as they had, we would have been more obedient and probably made it to the promised land much, much sooner, right?
The scriptures are filled with examples of wilderness experiences. Think about it. In the Old and New Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants, we read of great people who struggled with their faith, veered off the straight and narrow path, isolated themselves from righteousness, disobeyed the commandments and found themselves alone and lost. And I think the reason we have these examples in the scriptures is because we will probably find ourselves in a wilderness experience of our own at least once in our lifetime. I think a wilderness experience is part of life's journey, because there are valuable lessons that can only be learned in the wilderness.
Of course, we should do those things that give us protection and help us to stay on the straight and narrow, but we will sin and fall short at some time. When we find ourselves in the wilderness we should try to get out as quickly as possible. Lessons do not have to take forty years! And when we truly repent we will find it easier to stay on the straight and narrow and be less tempted to wander.
Along with those examples of wilderness experiences are countless admonitions from the Lord to always remember Him. He knows we need to do the same kinds of things the Israelites were taught to do. We live in a world of distractions and temptations. Our Sunday "high" will begin to fade as we move into Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday if we're not careful. How do we remember? Our instructor shared how he has started using any time where he has to "wait" to read the scriptures on his phone. Isn't it wonderful that we can carry the scriptures around with us everywhere we go? Yay for smartphones! Here are some other things that can help us remember: daily prayers, immersing ourselves in the scriptures, living our covenants and standing as a witness. Constantly nourishing our spirit with good music, art, and the written word every day helps. Spending time in nature and praising God for his creations helps me and I try to start each morning that way. For those of us who have made temple covenants, we can always remember Him as we dress each day. Partaking of the sacrament is the highlight of my week. We can display reminders in our home, where we will see them often. I have a small picture by my bedroom door that asks the question, "Did you think to pray?" Mark made that for me and I love it! I have post it note and index card reminders scattered on my desk, the refrigerator and the bathroom mirror. I have a picture of Christ on my bedside table and a painting of the temple on my wall. I know that I need things to help me to always remember Him. As much as I want to love the Lord with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my might, I know my weaknesses and how easy it can be to become distracted and forget. I'm more like the Israelites that I might like to admit.
At the end of the class our instructor asked a few questions for us to ponder as we started this new week. Here's what I'm thinking about...
"If someone walked into our home what would they see?"
"Would they find evidence that a disciple of Christ lived there?"
"Have we surrounded ourselves with ways to help us always remember Him?"
"Do we take the time to remember all the things that God has done for us?"
"How can we protect ourselves and our families from wandering in the wilderness?"
What helps you to remember?
Beautiful blog post. I was in primary yesterday and missed this lesson so a special thank you for sharing yours.
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