The Maintenance of the Sacred Word of God

One of the questions that President Nelson invited us to ponder concerning the Restoration was this: “How would my life be different if my knowledge gained from the Book of Mormon were suddenly taken away?”  For me it is hard to imagine my life without the Book of Mormon and the knowledge I have gained from it.  There are many truths of the gospel that I have learned from the Book of Mormon that have blessed my life, including the reality of the premortal existence, the purpose and manner of baptism, the goodness of God, the infinite nature of Christ’s atonement, the purpose of suffering, the reality of the resurrection for all, the need for repentance, the judgment that will come to all of us for our works, the purpose of prophets, the blessings of obedience, the importance of the gathering of Israel, the efficacy of prayer, the power of faith in Jesus Christ, the love of God for all His children, and many other gospel principles that have become a part of who I am.  I am grateful for the eternal truths I have learned through the Book of Mormon and confirmed by the Spirit, “Things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls” (Jacob 4:13).

               One of the most impactful principles that I have come to learn from the Book of Mormon is the absolute necessity of the scriptures in our lives if we want to successfully traverse this mortal journey.  The Book of Mormon teaches again and again the power of the scriptures to guide and direct us and invites us to “feast upon the word of Christ” (2 Nephi 31:20).  We see this from the very beginning as Nephi and his brothers risked their lives just so they could take the scriptures with them on their journey.  Nephi also taught this in his explanation of the powerful vision of his father when he explained that the rod of iron we must hold on to for safety is the word of God.  He explained this to Laman and Lemuel: “And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction” (1 Nephi 15:24).  The Liahona that they possessed to guide them was also a symbol of the word of God and its power to lead us in the right.  Alma would later explain after describing how that compass worked: “For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land. And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise” (Alma 37:44-45).  It is the word of Christ that can carry us through the sorrows of this mortal journey into an eternal promised land. 

               Many other passages similarly emphasize the importance of scriptures, and from these I have gained a witness of the need to put highest priority on the word of God in my life.  Captain Moroni suggested that they owed all their happiness to the “maintenance of the sacred word of God” (Alma 44:5).  Samuel the Lamanite taught that the scriptures lead us to “faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart” (Helaman 15:7).  Mormon gave this summary of the power of the scriptures to lead us in the right: “Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven” (Helaman 3:29-30).  It is through the sincere study of the word of God that we gain faith in the Lord, are led to repentance, escape the cunning snares of the devil, and ultimately find happiness in this life and in the kingdom of heaven in the life to come.  I have learned from the Book of Mormon more than any other source of the imperative need I have to daily feast in the scriptures.  It is only through that effort that I can navigate the challenges of this life, and I can say with Moroni that all my happiness likewise has depended on my own personal maintenance of the word of God.  In a secular world, how grateful I am to have the light of the scriptures to lead us through this vale of sorrow!