Extending Mercy towards All

Turns out that Jonah's decision to initially avoid going to Nineveh had little to do with being scared of teaching the people there, but instead, "it seems to have been resentment against the Lord for giving the hated enemy a chance to repent." (Old Testament Institute Manual). Wow! This was a new principle in the book of Jonah that I had never thought about: Are we okay with God extending mercy towards our enemies?  Elder Holland gave a masterful talk on this principle entitled The Laborers in the Vineyard. He said "Brothers and sisters, there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt—and certainly not to feel envious—when good fortune comes to another person? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon...God really is both just and merciful, giving to all who stand with Him “all that he hath,”² as the scripture says.”

The perfect balance that God strikes between  justice and mercy is something that I'm still trying to more fully understand and better implement as part of my personal character. It is hard. I can relate to Jonah in this story as my personality tends to lean towards applying the principle of justice in most situations. For example, when I've told my children over and over not to... (i.e. climb on back of the couch) because they are going to fall and get hurt and they ignore my warnings and proceed to fall and get hurt, this "justice-leaning-mother" shows little mercy and and says "I told you that was going to happen." (Fortunately I'm married to a merciful husband who comforts said child in their distress). But God's reaction to Jonah's attitude toward the repentant Ninevites is obviously disappointment (Jonah 4:10-11). And I think He feels the same about us when we refuse to extend mercy and compassion to those who are repentant and willing to change, whether or not we think they deserve His mercy. The Lord will forgive whom ever He wants to forgive, but He requires us to forgive all men (D&C 64:10).

Brotherly Covenant

In the first two chapters of the Book of Amos, Amos is prophesying to several different cities about future punishments that are coming because of their transgressions. Each city is rebuked for a specific offense they have committed against God, but it turns out that there is a common thread to each of these transgressions-they all have to do with how people (probably the poor and needy) were being treated in their respective cities (see the table in Old Testament Student Manual). The rebuke that stood out most to me was in Amos 1:9 where it says "[they] remembered not the brotherly covenant." (italics added)

I've spent some time this week thinking about what this "brotherly covenant" means. It’s the only place this phrase shows up in all of our canon of scripture. A quick search in the topical guide under the words "brotherhood and brotherly" gives some deeper context to the phrase. The word brotherly is often connected to words like love, compassion, kindness and mercy. The scripture Mosiah 18:8 is also referenced which is part of our baptismal covenant to be "willing to bear one another's burden."

So what I'm beginning to understand is that the brotherly covenant is a commitment we make to Jesus Christ that we will take care of others. And, based on the writings of Amos, its a covenant that God takes very seriously. That if we don't treat others with kindness and take care of the poor and needy then there are severe punishments in store for us.

Sister Sharon Eubank spoke recently during General Conference and said the following: "The Church of Jesus Christ is under divine mandate to care for the poor.² It is one of the pillars of the work of salvation and exaltation...As baptized members of the Church, we are under covenant to care for those in need."(I Pray He'll Use Us). I was grateful that the book of Amos provided me with a reminder of my covenantal responsibility to care for and treat others as Jesus Christ would do.

Strengthening a Covenant Relationship

I don't ever remember studying the book of Hosea before this week, but I enjoyed contemplating the different facets of the marriage metaphor that he teaches us. I loved the introductory paragraph from the Come, Follow Me manual that explains what to expect when reading the book of Hosea. It states "Israel's covenant with the Lord was meant to be so deep and meaningful that the Lord compared it to a marriage. The covenant, like a marriage, included eternal commitment, shared experiences, building a life together, exclusive loyalty, and most of all, wholehearted love."  One of the thought provoking questions in the manual is "ponder your own relationship with the Lord...how can we be faithful to our covenants with Him? As I thought about this question, I was reminded of a Liahona article I read some time ago that really helped me think of more concrete ways that I can strengthen my relationship with Him. The article listed the following ten items that might help deepen our connection with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

1. Communicate honestly, out loud, and with real intent through prayer.²

2. Be a good listener.³

3. Show Them appreciation.⁴

4. Make sacrifices for Them.⁵

5. Learn about Them.⁶

6. Spend quality time with Them.⁷

7. Serve together.⁸

8. Show Them trust and commitment.⁹

9. Admit when you’re wrong.¹⁰

10. Learn how They show you love.¹¹

"Strengthening my Relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ"

Pres. Nelson recently said "Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy....we are bound together. Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in God’s heart. He has high hopes for us." (The Everlasting Covenant). May we reciprocate towards Him the same kind of effort and patience that He shows towards us as we try to grow stronger and deeper in our relationship with Him.

Raising Zion Children in the midst of Babylon

While studying the book of Daniel this week, many of my study materials talked about looking for the parallels between ancient Babylon and our world today. My thoughts turned to Daniel and his friends and their unwavering faith while living in the wicked city of Babylon. The question I asked myself was "what had these young men been taught by their parents in order to spiritually survive in Babylon?" Even though there is no direct answer to this question, through their stories we can infer a lot about the values these boys were taught in order to stay strong in a culture that was very different than the homes they'd been raised in.

They knew their true identity (Daniel 1:7). Even though Babylon labeled them with new names, they stayed true to who they were. In a devotional given to the Young Adults in May 2022 Pres. Nelson said "I believe that if the Lord were speaking to you directly tonight, the first thing He would make sure you understand is your true identity.¹¹...the way you think about who you really are affects almost every decision you will ever make." (Choices for Eternity)

They knew their covenants (Daniel 1:8, 3:12, 18, 6:10-11). Refusing to eat certain foods and worship idols shows that these boys had been taught different standands than those living in Babylon and they were not going to lower their standards to try and fit in. Pres. Nelson recently said "The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power—power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way." (Overcome the World and Find Rest)

They knew the power of prayer (Daniel 2:16-19). When faced with the challenge of revealing and interpreting the king's dream, Daniel turns to God in prayer and invites his friends to pray with him. Pres. Nelson has said "If you are not also seeking the Lord through daily prayer and gospel study, you leave yourself vulnerable to philosophies that may be intriguing but are not true. Even Saints who are otherwise faithful can be derailed by the steady beat of Babylon’s band." (Make Time for the Lord)

They knew how to recognize Gods’ hand in their lives (Daniel 2:19-23, 28). When the king's secret is revealed to Daniel in a night vision, the first thing that he does is give thanks to God in heaven.  Pres. Eyring gave a talk in 2007 titled "O Remember Remember" where he shared an experience that strengthened his testimony regarding the importance of recognizing Gods hand in his life. He said "As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done...that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done. More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew...[I] urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies."

They knew how to have faith in God's will (Daniel 3:17-18, Daniel 6:23). When the four friends each faced the death penalty for not obeying their mortal king's request, they all relied on their faith that by obeying their Heavenly King they could be saved. Elder Maxwell once said "As one’s will is increasingly submissive to the will of God, he can receive inspiration and revelation so much needed to help meet the trials of life."(Swallowed up in the Will of the Father)

Pres. Boyd K. Packer spoke to the youth of the church 10 years ago and said "You are growing up in enemy territory... the adversary has infiltrated the world around you. He is in homes, entertainment, the media, language—everything around you." (How to Survive in Enemy Territory) We are living in modern day Babylon, surrounded by a culture that continues to move further and further away from the teachings of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful that the scriptures and our latter-day prophets and apostles give us guidance and direction in helping us know the best strategies on how we can confidently live in this world and still enjoy happiness and hope for better things to come.

A Prophets Role-a Watchman

In Ezekiel 3:17 and 33:3,7, Ezekiel is told that his responsibility to the house of Israel is to warn them of spiritual danger just like a watchman on a tower would warn others of physical danger. With this instruction in mind, I liked going back through some of Pres. Nelson's talks and seeing some of the "warning" language that our current watchman has been using to warn us of impending danger... (emphasis added)

"In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost,”  (Revelation for the church, Revelation for our lives)

"The assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater." (Becoming exemplary Latter Day Saints)

“The adversary is quadrupling his efforts to disrupt testimonies and impede the work of the Lord. He is arming his minions with potent weapons to keep us from partaking of the joy and love of the Lord.

Repentance is the key to avoiding misery inflicted by traps of the adversary.” (We can do better and be better)

"The adversary has other disturbing tactics. Among them are his efforts to blur the line between what is true and what is not true. The flood of information available at our fingertips, ironically, makes it increasingly difficult to determine what is true." (What is truth?)

Elder Spencer W. Kimball explained the need to have a watchman: “I am sure that Peter and James and Paul found it unpleasant business to constantly be calling people to repentance and warning them of dangers, but they continued unflinchingly. So we, your leaders, must be everlastingly at it; if young people do not understand, then the fault may be partly ours. But, if we make the true way clear to you, then we are blameless." (Old Testament Student Manual)

If you feel like our prophet is constantly repeating his pleadings and warnings to us, then you are right!  His prophetic duty as a spiritual watchman is to make sure we understand the Lords' warnings for us and he will continue to warn us so that he is not held accountable for our iniquities, but has done his best to "deliver every soul." (Ezekiel 3:18-19) Parents and leaders can also find application to the responsibilities placed on a watchman. We might not be responsible to warn the whole House of Israel of spiritual dangers, but we are responsible to warn those living in our own homes or those who are under our stewardship. And just like the prophet has to continually repeat his warnings to us, it is our job as parents and leaders to continually teach others within our sphere of influence what the prophet is saying. And as we do our part to fulfill the responsibilities of a watchman, I would think the same promise would also apply to us that we can be held blameless.

Letter and Spirit of the Law

 In Jeremiah 31:31-33 we can see the principle of God wanting us to live the letter of the law in order to help us more fully live the spirit of the law. The children of Israel were given laws, written on stone tablets, that they broke (v 32). They didn't connect those outward performances to anything meaningful, spiritually speaking. The Lord wants these outward practices to change us, spiritually, so that we feel these laws are written on our hearts; that we are living these covenants, not out of "show" to others, but out of our love for God.

Now that I understand this principle better, the connection between Jeremiah 31:31-33 and the revised "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet is unmistakable to me. When I first read the revised copy I was a little bit distraught, thinking "how am I going to teach my kids appropriate standards without any do's and don'ts?  I like the old version because it's like a checklist to me." But once I studied this Come, Follow Me lesson I realized that the Lord wants us to move beyond a "spirituality checklist" and into a mindset of "how am I letting God prevail in my life today."

Pres. Nelson summarized this principle perfectly when he said "When your greatest desire is to let God prevail... so many decisions become easier. So many issues become nonissues! You know how best to groom yourself. You know what to watch and read, where to spend your time, and with whom to associate. You know what you want to accomplish. You know the kind of person you really want to become." (Let God Prevail)

So now that I better understand the principle behind the change, the question is "how do I adapt my parenting in order to embrace these changes?" In his talk, "Jesus Christ is the Strength of Youth", Elder Uchtdorf gives some great counsel. He said "Is it wrong to have rules? Of course not. We all need them every day. But it is wrong to focus only on rules instead of focusing on the Savior. You need to know the whys and the hows and then consider the consequences of your choices."

What I understand from this is that my role as a parent is not to make the decisions for my children, but to teach the principles of the gospel that will then help them make their own decisions based on their own personal revelation and their own understanding of how they can best let God prevail in their life.

The Patience of a Potter

The symbolism of the potter and the clay have been on my mind since last weeks CFM lesson where Isaiah first mentions this metaphor (Isaiah 64:8). I loved that in this weeks reading of Jeremiah, the Lord used the same metaphor to help teach Jeremiah (Jeremiah 18:3-6). To help me better understand all the symbolism this metaphor has to offer, I read a talk given by Camille Fronk at BYU entitled "Lessons from the Potter and the Clay" To prepare for her talk, she visited a BYU ceramics professor to learn about the processes that takes place in order to make a clay pot. I wanted to share some of the lessons she learned that helped me better understand the symbolism imbedded in this metaphor.

• Clay is "a lowly substance capable of being formed into vessels of glory. It reminds us of our own nothingness without the skills, the vision, and the sacrifice of the Master Potter."
• "the potter must add water—another seemingly simple element, but one that has vital properties. Water brings the clay to life. The symbolic water we receive from the Savior is as critical to our existence as physical water is to the clay."
• "the potter dries out the clay while kneading it and eliminating air pockets...These “kneadings” of the potter can be paralleled to disappointments and at times severe challenges we experience individually or as a people. They are not intended to destroy but have a refining capacity to bring increased perspective and wisdom."
• "During the kneading process, the potter will become aware of stones and other foreign objects mixed in with the clay. They will need to be identified and removed by running a wire through the clay as the final preparation to shaping...It is through the process of repentance, confessing and forsaking our sins, that we do our part to become pure and receptive in the hands of the Potter."
• "It is critical that the clay be totally centered [on the wheel] or it can never respond to the directives of the potter and therefore never be formed into a vessel of honor. When the clay does not deviate to the left nor to the right, the potter knows it is centered...Once we are centered [on Christ], right to our very core, we have no need to fear."
• "a potter...does not concentrate on the outward appearance of the vessel. He knows that the outside will take care of itself when the inner space is formed. In other words, the form of the inner chamber determines the appearance of the exterior."
• "Of all sculpting materials, clay responds the easiest to touch and retains the most minute detail, even a thumbprint. Each detail can be changed innumerable times until the potter is satisfied and declares the vessel complete."
• "Not all clay vessels go into their desired shape the first time. Some become marred while they are on the potter’s wheel...While there are no guarantees that once on the wheel you will never go wrong, all is not lost for those who contend against the Potter... It is given another chance to be obedient and pliable in the hands of the potter."

Now, that I understood the symbolism of the metaphor a little bit better, it was easier to see how it applied to me-not only as clay, but also in my role as a potter. In Elder Schmitt's talk "That They Might Know Thee" given in General Conference two weeks ago, he challenged us to learn the different names of Christ.  Each week when we take the sacrament we commit to take upon us the name of Christ. What if each week we thought of a different name of Christ and the attributes associated with that name? If one of Christ's name is "potter", then what are some attributes we can learn about Him because of that name? Sister Fronk describes a potter like this...

• "A good potter always gives the clay respect by not moving it faster than it is capable of enduring and will never force it into a shape."
• "With a combination of pinching and pulling movements, adding the living water constantly to keep it flexible and alive, the potter leads the vessel to its proper form."
• "He can feel unique tendencies within the clay that, when followed, lead him to create a different vessel every time."

Patience and consistency. These are two words that will now come to my mind when I think of the Lord as a potter. As I am given "potter-like" responsibilities, when I am asked to help mold and shape some "wedges of clay", I hope I can reflect on this lesson: to be more like Christ I need to be more patient and consistent with the clay I've been given to work with.  Remembering that my job is not to force it into a certain shape but to lead it towards its proper form.