Treated Lightly

In the revelation giving the oath and covenant of the priesthood, the Lord said this to members of His church: “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.” He then suggested what it was they were treating lightly: “And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:54-57). The “former commandments” surely include those given in ancient times and recorded in the Bible, as well as those revelations that had been given up to that point to the Prophet Joseph Smith in this dispensation. These verses beg the question for all of us: do we “treat lightly” the word of the Lord that we have received?

            The Savior was clear in this revelation that “this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.” All of us, to some degree, have treated the scriptures lightly and failed to treasure the things of God like we should. In fact, this was in essence the sin Joseph was repenting of that night when the angel Moroni came: “I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company, etc., not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been” (JSH 1:28). He had, he seems to have been saying, at times taken too lightly the sacred revelations he had received. I would venture to say that this was the brother of Jared’s problem as well when they stayed on the seashore for four years. The account tells us that the Lord “chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord” (Ether 2:14). My guess is that it wasn’t that the brother of Jared didn’t pray; but rather he didn’t call on the name of the Lord with the intensity and seriousness that such an act requires. He had, the story seems to suggest, taken lightly the things of God and because of that the Lord called him to repent. The Lord similarly calls each of us to repent in our day if we treat lightly the scriptures and the things of God. In another revelation about how we should act in sacred places He said this, “Therefore, cease from all your light speeches, from all laughter, from all your lustful desires, from all your pride and light-mindedness, and from all your wicked doings” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:121). When a situation calls for serious contemplation of the things of God, we must learn to cease from our light-mindedness and not treat them lightly. Ultimately we must come to take seriously these words from the Prophet Joseph: “The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out.  They mind, O man! If thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God” (see here).