Matthew 18:1-14. Becoming as Little Children

In Matthew 18, Christ's disciples come to Him and ask, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" In response, he asks a child over to the group and puts him in the middle of them. He teaches, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

 There are negative ways in which we are sometimes like little children. We can be like little children in the sense that we are comparatively very spiritually immature, in the grand scope of things. None of us fully comprehend Heavenly Father's plans. We aren't able to bear everything we will ultimately need to yet (D&C 78:17-18).

Also, many of us are like little children in that, as Christ said, we haven't necessarily progressed to conversion in the gospel.

Heavenly Father will help us even though we don't understand His plans and are weak and are not yet where we need to be. He promises (D&C 78:17-18) to lead us along and help bring us to the blessings of salvation and eternity that are meant to be ours.

In Mosiah 3:19, King Benjamin lists a number of methods to become as a child in the sense we are commanded to, and qualities therein: we must put off the natural man and listen to and follow the Holy Spirit instead. We put off the natural man through the Atonement, and then we can become as saints, as little children, instead.

He says to become as a child is to be "submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

 I love how almost all of these qualities share a certain commonality. They all lead up to the final point. If we are full of charity--love of God and of righteousness, we will submit to God's will meekly, with humility, and patience, as we would submit to a loving father who we also love, and be able to become as little children.

John 6. The Bread of Life

In the beginning of John 6, Christ feeds the 5,000 with only a small amount of bread and fish. Many people were seeking out the Savior at this time, but only because He had satisfied their hunger, not because they had seen him perform miracles.

In response, the Savior taught them about the difference between temporal and eternal food.  The food they seek after to fill their stomachs is temporal; they needed to seek after that which sustains for eternity, which is the gospel.  He taught them that they seek after the gospel--this eternal sustenance--by believing in Christ.  If they partake of the bread and water of Christ they will never thirst or hunger again, and they will have everlasting life.  Christ explains that Heavenly Father sent Him so that we can believe in Him, partake of the bread of life, and never perish.

Today, I seek the Lord because I need Him in my life.  The Atonement is the only thing keeping me from misery, in frank honesty.  I hope I’m not the only that feels that way.  It brings me peace and joy and happiness, and allows me to feel and be clean so I can feel the Spirit and know that I am worthy and feel of Heavenly Father’s love.  I need the Lord so that I can keep my covenants and be justified and sanctified through keeping those covenants.  I need the Lord so that I can be a better person and benefit the people around me.  I seek Him because I know He is there and has invited me to seek Him.  I know it’s what He wants me to do. 

The Savior also spoke about those who seek after another goal that won't sustain and won't last beyond this life: those who seek after riches.  Many people today are obsessed with money and live for "things" rather than living according to Heavenly Father's will. I think in our church, this can often start out innocuous enough; we seek money because we want to be on top of things enough to be more of a benefit to church, or to provide for big, happy families.  Over time though, nicer and nicer things seem necessary, until members' lives are controlled by material things and wanting more and more of them.  

After the Savior gave the bread of life sermon, many of the people turned away and left Him because they didn’t believe. He then asked his disciples, "Will ye also go away?" (John 6:67).  The disciples responded to Him that they wouldn't leave--that they had no where else to go, because He holds the keys to salvation. They were able to respond this way because they knew that He is Christ and has the gospel.  

Nephi gives us another good example of this kind of faith in the end of first Nephi chapter three and the beginning of chapter four, when he and his brothers are trying to obtain the plates from King Laban.  His brothers asked him, “How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?”  Nephi responded, “let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord.” He knew the Lord is stronger than any earthly thing, and thus stronger than Laban and all his forces.  His wording was incredibly powerful: “Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses . . . behold ye know that this is true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt?”  Nephi doesn’t even bat an eyelash.  He knows what he knows, and there doubt and murmuring will never cause him to doubt. 

John chapter six has taught me a lot about what it means to follow Christ even when it's not convenient.  So often we have to give up things that seem so crucial to us, but that are ultimately ephemeral.  Sometimes they really are important: we all have to eat.  But we still seek the Savior over these things.  It reminds me of Matthew 6:28. "And why take ye thought for raiment?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin . . ."  I like this scripture so much that I call this the "consider the lilies" principle: Chill out.  The Lord will provide for you.  This reminder helps me get back on center, and helps me not forget what's really important.  Even when it's hard or when other things are competing for your time and attention, those things won't last.  Only the gospel will last, so I choose to follow the Savior and His gospel.

-Katie

Matthew 13:24-48. Parables

I've often thought of a parable as somewhat of an allegory. When a parable is given, a story is told that can either stand for itself, or be interpreted for a wider meaning, to convey a message.  Specifically, parables were used by Christ to teach spiritual principles in a way that people could understand on their level, but also according to their level of spiritual maturity.  Parables were a very important part of the Savior's earthly ministry.

This week I read the parable of the tares (Matthew 13:24-30), the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven (Matthew 13:31-33), the parables of the treasure and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44-46), and the parable of the gospel net (Matthew 13:47-50), and decided on the following interpretations:

o The parable of the tares describes the future growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

o The parable of the gospel net tells us why the Church send out so many missionaries.

o The parable of the mustard seed and the leaven describes the remarkable growth of the Church, considering that it is fairly new compared to most world religions and started small in the American frontier.

o The parable of the tares tells why some Church members choose to leave the Church. 

​o The parable of the treasure and the pearl of great price tells us why some members of the Church are willing to sacrifice so much worldly wealth and recognition in order to maintain membership in the Church.

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I have seen some weighty sacrifices made by those around me for the sake of the church and to follow the gospel and its teachings.  Those that have particularly impressed have had to sacrifice family, making decisions that could, at best, create a sore spot, and at worst, estrange them from those they love the most.  Many of us have those situations where we need to give up somewhat worldly things for the sake of righteousness: our favorite inappropriate TV shows, our Sunday mornings where we could be sleeping in, our friends whose negative influence is too strong for us to maintain the friendship.  The last of those can be very painful.  I've had to give up those things and many others.  But I am grateful to be in a family that can enrich my life both in temporal and gospel matters, and make it easier to make those kinds of sacrifices.  My heart goes out to people who can't say the same, but the testimonies that those choices reveal are incredibly inspiring.  

In the parable of the net, I see the net as meaning the missionaries of the church, and all those in the church that preach the gospel.  To be gathered into the net is to be converted to the gospel and become part of the body of saints.  As the scripture states, the separation of the good and bad fish from what was gathered in the net is representative of the judgment.  

Parables are really fun for me.  I love that they are so customizable (turns out, Christ is super smart :D ).  It's really interesting to go back to them over time and think of them differently or find new meaning.  It's a simple way to learn more about the basic truths of the gospel.  

-Katie