Whoso Treasureth Up My Word

To my son,

                 Recently you have been listening to the Tennis Shoes books, and you just finished the one which described the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. This really happened and it was one of the most horrific events in history. Josephus, one of the characters in the book and a real historian who lived at that time, wrote that 1.1 million people were killed because of that event when the Romans sieged and captured Jerusalem. They also burned the temple to the ground. As the book described, the faithful Christians were not there in Jerusalem because they had fled from the city. This whole event was prophesied by the Savior in mortality, and those who followed His words were protected. Most of the Jews at that time felt that staying in Jerusalem would be the place of safety, for the Lord had miraculously delivered the city before (such as when the Assyrians came in about 700 BC and attacked it). But the Savior said this to His disciples: “When you, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, then you shall stand in the holy place; whoso readeth let him understand. Then let them who are in Judea flee into the mountains; Let him who is on the housetop flee, and not return to take anything out of his house; Neither let him who is in the field return back to take his clothes” (JSM 1:12-15). He was telling them to flee Jerusalem—not stay—when they saw the pending destruction of the city by the Romans. There is a tradition that early Christians indeed fled to Pella in Perea before the destruction came, following this injunction from the Savior. Those who held fast to His words were protected.

                In that same discourse, the Savior gave some warnings to the Saints who would live in the last days—that’s us. He warned that there would be false Christs, false prophets, wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. “Iniquity shall abound” and “the love of men shall wax cold”, predictions which surely have already come to pass in our world today. In short, these last days that we live in would have plenty of challenges where even the elect would risk being deceived. But He gave us a key for how to spiritually survive and not be overcome by what happens in the world around us. He declared, “And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived” (JSM 1:30, 37). This is a phrase I have thought about often, and I hope that you will commit it to memory and strive each day to treasure up His word. This means both studying the words of ancient prophets in the scriptures and heeding the words of the living prophets who speak to us at general conference. With so much confusion around us, we need to drink deeply from the well of living waters each day that we find in the sacred word of God. The Prophet Joseph Smith said this about the importance of following the modern day apostles in particular: “I will give you a key that will never rust,—if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray.” He had a sense of the challenges that the Saints would face and the deception that would overtake many. Our sure foundation is found in following the Savior’s chosen prophets who give unto us His word. I hope that you will make their words, along with the words of all the scriptures, a treasure in your life to guide you, and you will be protected from evil just like those ancient Christians in 70 AD. 

Love,

Dad