Of Great Worth

To my daughter,

One of my favorite chapters in the scriptures is Moses 1. In it Moses recorded a great vision he received when he was “caught up into an exceedingly high mountain” (v1). He talked with God “face to face” and he “beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered” (v8). After this vision and a brief encounter with the adversary, the Lord came unto him again and “Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God. And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore” (v27-28). He saw the whole world and all the people in it—wouldn’t that be amazing? He probably even saw you and me thousands of years before we came to the earth. But what is even more incredible is that he didn’t just see this earth: “And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof” (v29). He saw other worlds besides the one we live on and he beheld the people on them! The Lord explained, “And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten” (v33). Can you imagine what it would be like to see other worlds like that? These scriptures should fill us with a sense of awe for the wondrous creations of God.

               And yet, what Moses learned that was most important in this vision was not that God had created many worlds. During his experience after seeing such marvelous creations of the earth, Moses declared, “Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (v10). You can imagine that he felt pretty small and insignificant when compared to the endless creations of the Lord that he saw. I think sometimes we all feel pretty small and worthless in a world with so many people and in a universe with so many creations. But then Moses learned that the physical creations were not what mattered most to God. After revealing his many creations to Moses He then told Moses why all these earths and magnificent creations exist: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (v39). In other words, what is most important to God is not the stars or the worlds or the countless creations He has made; rather, it is us! We are His most important work. Helping us to obtain immortality and eternal life is His main focus and what He calls His glory. The most important purpose of all His creations is to provide us a means of becoming like Him. In our day He revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith this truth: “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10). And if we are of great worth to God then we truly are of great worth indeed!

Love, 

Dad