Feasting Upon the Word of Christ

Spending a few days camping in the High Uintas has taught me that we can survive without some of the modern conveniences that we usually take for granted. We can survive without running water and microwaves and refrigerators. We can survive without beds and heaters and cell phone service. We can even survive without toilets and showers. But at the end of our time here, we are all excited and grateful to return to those things, especially to eat fresh food that isn’t freeze dried! While we can live without those modern conveniences, we certainly would not want to do so for a long period of time. As I thought about this, I realized that this is perhaps not unlike living life without reading the Book of Mormon each day. We can certainly do it, but why would we want to do so? There is stability and power that comes into our lives when we study the Book of Mormon that just makes life better. President Nelson put it this way: “As you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better decisions—every day.… As you ponder what you study, the windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own questions and direction for your own life.” Studying the Book of Mormon each day will bring direction and help to our lives that we should not want to go without. And like these modern conveniences, it is often when we do go without that we realize the difference they make each day. This powerful promise from the Book of Mormon describes how are lives will be guided as we make the word of God integral to them: “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, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out” (Helaman 3:29-30).

                In the most recent general conference, Elder Eduardo F. Ortega spoke about our need individually to seek out spiritual truths through a foundation of the word of God. He taught, “Our family heritage is a great blessing, but it is not a substitute for our diligent and intentional search for a personal testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and the truths of His restored gospel.” Those who receive the gospel “have come ‘by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.’” And to continue on the covenant path, he taught that we must “seek diligently and [be] ‘nourished by the good word of God, to keep [us] in the right way, to keep [us] continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who [is] the author and the finisher of [our] faith.’” He also quoted this well-known invitation from Nephi: “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20). Feasting is probably the right word to describe how we will all eat once we are back to normal civilization from our trip to the mountains and can enjoy a fresh meal, and it is how we should approach our study of the scriptures—especially the Book of Mormon—each day. Elder Ortega summarized his message by speaking about mountains: “The path of discipleship often resembles climbing a mountain. The shortest path to the top is not always the most appropriate and often not the safest either. Thus, we must choose the firm and safe path, even if it is sometimes the longest and most demanding one. Jesus Christ and His restored gospel constitute that safe path that leads us to the true summit.” The “shortest” or easiest path each day would perhaps not include time to study and ponder the scriptures, but to truly get where we want to go in life, we need that daily guidance and strength. We must trust in this promise of Nephi as we choose to spend time daily in the word of God to conquer whatever figurative mountains we face: “Wherefore, I said unto you, 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).