Plant This Word

In his famous teachings to the Zoramites, Alma invited the poorer class of people to have faith. He said this: “And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, yea, even on his word.” To me this indicates that faith or belief starts with the word; the “first place” that we go to develop faith in Jesus Christ is the words of the scriptures and prophets. He continued, “We will compare the word unto a seed,” and then invited them to “plant the seed” and “try the experiment” to come to know the truth (Alma 32:21-22, 36). What is that experiment? It starts with reading and studying the word of God. This people could not worship with the rest of the Zoramites because they were too poor and kicked out of their synagogues. But they could still read and hear the word of God, and that’s what Alma was inviting them to do.

               This invitation became clearer in the next chapter when the people asked Alma “how they should plant the seed.” His first invitation was this: “Ye ought to search the scriptures.” He then questioned them about specific passages of scriptures that they should have read which taught of the Savior. He questioned them again, “Now behold, my brethren, I would ask if ye have read the scriptures?” (Alma 33:2, 14) A serious study of the scriptures is where our faith in Jesus Christ begins. This was taught by Paul to the Romans: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). That is why the study of the scriptures is so important. There are many reasons to spend time in the scriptures each day, but I believe that to develop faith in Jesus Christ is the most important. The goal is not to necessarily become an expert in the scriptures or to know everything about them; it is to come to know Jesus Christ and grow our faith in Him. And so even in our correct emphasis on the scriptures, we must be careful that we do not make a knowledge of the scriptures the end goal. Jesus warned of this in these words to the Jews of His day: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). We often quote this verse as an endorsement for the scriptures, which is it; but it is a qualified endorsement. Jesus here suggested, I believe, that in the scriptures is not found eternal life without Him. In other words, the Pharisees and Jewish rulers of His day knew the scriptures, memorized them, and even built rules around them to protect themselves from the possibility of breaking one of the laws found therein. And yet, despite this incredible devotion to the scriptures, they were blind to what mattered most because of their “looking beyond the mark”—they believed in the scriptures but did not believe in the Savior who had given those words when He came (Jacob 4:14). They thought salvation was in the words of the law itself, and they failed to see that only through Jesus Christ are we saved. If the words of the scriptures do not point us to Him they are of little use to us.

               Alma correctly understood that the purpose of scripture, the reason to plant the word, was to come to know Jesus Christ. He asked them if they read the scriptures then “how can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?” He then gave them this powerful invitation: “Cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works.” He then concluded, “And now, my brethren, I desire that ye shall plant this word in your hearts, and as it beginneth to swell even so nourish it by your faith. And behold, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son” (Alma 33:14, 22-23). We plant the word (the scriptures) in our hearts so that we can come to know the Word (the Savior) and find in Him everlasting life.