What We Think About

Joseph Smith wrote to the Saints while he was in hiding and said the following, “I now resume the subject of the baptisms for the dead, as that subject seems to occupy my mind, and press itself upon my feelings the strongest, since I have been pursued by my enemies” (D&C 128:1).  As I thought about this statement I realized that the subjects that “occupy my mind” the most are far less noble.  As William Wordsworth wrote, “the world is too much with us,” and we spend too much mental energy on the things of the least eternal consequence.  So what do the scriptures teach us about what we should focus our thoughts on?  President Joseph F. Smith wrote how he was “pondering over the scriptures and reflecting upon the great atoning sacrifice that was made by the Son of God” (D&C 138:1-2).  Joshua was told that he should meditate on the book of the law “day and night” (Joshua 1:8).  Joseph Smith unknowingly followed this counsel as a boy: “I reflected on [James 1:5] again and again… It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart” (JSH 1:12).  Enos said, “The words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart” (Enos 1:3).  Similarly, Nephi heard the visions of his father and he “desired to know the things that [his] father had seen” and he “sat pondering in [his] heart” on the subject (1 Nephi 11:1).  Moroni invited us to think about “how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts” (Moroni 10:3).  When the Savior visited among the Nephites and taught them, he said, “Ponder upon the things which I have said” (3 Nephi 17:3).  So if we follow the examples in the scriptures, the subjects most worth of our thoughts are the salvation for the dead, the words of Christ, the atonement, the mercy of the Lord, and the revelations of the prophets.  Perhaps the best summation is found in D&C 43:34: “Let the solemnities of eternity rest upon your minds.”