Feast Upon the Words of Christ

Yesterday for Halloween my wife invited her sister’s family with their seven children to join us for a Harry Potter style feast before the trick or treating began. She decorated the ceiling with hanging lights that you could turn on with a “wand,” covered the windows to make it mostly dark, turned on the Harry Potter theme music, made butterbeer, and served up soup and chili in homemade bread bowls along with Halloween decorated cupcakes for dessert. The kids of course loved it, and it was no small effort for my wife to make it all happen. I reflected on this special meal as I read Elder Ozani Farias’ invitation from his recent talk in general conference: “Nephi taught, ‘Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do’ (2 Nephi 32:3). To feast means more than just reading—it means savoring, pondering, and applying…. As we feast upon the words of Christ, they will open the door to revelation and show us what we need to do in the various circumstances of our life to draw closer to Him.” Often when my children grab food for themselves they go for the easiest thing: a bowl of cereal. They quickly make it, eat a handful of bites until they get distracted, and then they disappear with half of it still in the bowl getting soggy. Sometimes perhaps our scripture study looks similar: we quickly grab a few verses and read them, without savoring them, before something distracts us and we are off with many passages unread and unexperienced. Instead, our goal should be to have our scripture study look more like the “feast” that my wife put together for our family yesterday. Of course, we may not be able to devote that much time to scriptures each day, but surely we can give greater intensity and meaning and enjoyment to our time in the word of God daily. As we “feast upon the words of Christ” and “feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted” we will surely “feast upon his love” that is found in His eternal word (2 Nephi 9:51, 32:3; Jacob 3:2).

                Last night the kids then went trick-or-treating and brought home their sacks full of their treasure. My seven-year-old poured his all out, sorted it into like piles, and counted out 87 pieces as I tried to make a deal with him to buy it back for 50 cents each. But he refused and that bag is his treasure which I’m sure he’ll energetically defend as fights undoubtedly break out today about who stole whose candy. Treasure is another way that we should think about the scriptures, just as the Savior said: “And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come” (JSM 1:37). The Savior taught, “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (3 Nephi 13:20-21). There may be candy thieves in my house today, and the treasure these kids prize so much right now will indeed soon disappear. But the treasure we have in the word of God is there always for us to partake of freely just as Jacob invited us: “Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price” (2 Nephi 9:50). We are so blessed to have so much of the word of God available to us at our fingertips, but it will not help us if we do not read it and treasure it and feast upon it. I love the invitation and testimony that King Benjamin gave to his sons and to all of us: “O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that these records are true. And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true; and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes. And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby” (Mosiah 1:6-7). I know there is power in the word of God as we diligently search what we have right before our eyes. As we strive to feast upon the words of Christ we will find indeed that they are worth to us “the riches of the whole Earth” (see Doctrine and Covenants 70).