A Time for Rest

This week I managed to get a lot of things done early: homework, tests, etc, even though this was one of the busier weeks of this semester. It's now Friday, and I'm able to look back on the things i accomplished over the week and rejoice in the time that i have to rest and play. This rejoicing makes me think of the relationship in the gospel between work and rest. The Book of Mormon: Another testament of Jesus Christ, teaches us that "this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God, yea ... this life is the day for men to preform their labors" (Alma 34: 32). It also teaches us that after this life, the righteous will enter into a "state of rest" (Alma 42: 12). Thus the beginning of this week was like mortality, and now that it's the weekend, and i worked hard and got my work done, the weekend is like a state of rest.
We see another example between work and rest in the scriptures in Genesis Chapter 1-2. In Genesis chapter 1 we learn that God created the world in 6 days. In Genesis chapter 2 vs 2 we learn that "he rested on the seventh day from all his work." Thus we see the pattern in the Gospel of hard work for a time and then rest.

Omnitianc of Christ in Mortality

The other day I was at Home Evening (an institution set up by Church to promote family unity, usually called Family Home Evening but, since were collage students and not technically a "family", accept in the sense that were all children of God, we call it Home Evening in stead) and someone game a lesson on the intelligence of Christ. He started out by asking the question, "How smart was Christ?" At first i didn't know how to respond. "Smart" wasn't a word that I often associated with the Savior, I often thought of him as wise, the child who astonished the priests at the temple . But as we discussed the topic the fact that Christ was not only wise in laws and eternal truths, but also very knowledgeable of laws and customs of his people, in fact, on many occasions (if not all occasions) he knew more about the laws of the people than did the Pharasies and scribes. So we know that Christ was knowledgeable of the customs and legal principles of His time.
These things being said, we also know that Christ was not all knowing during his mortal ministry. In the Doctrine and Covenants, a book of latter day scripture, we learn that "He [Christ] received not of the fullness at first, but received grace for grace," or in other words, Christ had to learn bit by bit just as we do.

"Doers and Not Hearers Only"

Recently i have been reading through the gospels in the New Testament. I have found some common themes that i had not been as familiar with before. One pattern is the pattern the Lord set of rewarding the doers and not just the hearers. Many of his parables teach this principle.
One great way in which the lord teaches this principle is with the parable of the two sons in Mathew 21: 28-31 where the Lord says:
"28 ¶ But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.

31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."

We see clearly here the lords disapproval for those who say they will do and do not. Another example is seen in the lords parable of the unwise servant in Mathew 25:14-30. To summarize the parable, the Lord sends out 3 servants and gives each a portion of money. After a time the servants came back and the first had returned with the money he was given, plus what he had made when he was away, the second had done the same returning twice the amount to his lord that he was originally given. But the third had hid his portion and done nothing with it. Upon his return, the third servant was severely chastised and "cast... into outer darkness." (mat 25:30). We see once again that the Lord expects us to do something with what he has given us and not just sit around doing nothing.
The final example is also in Mathew 25, the parable of the ten virgins. All were invited to the Lords wedding feast, all excepted the invitation. But when the day of the wedding came, only 5 had properly prepared themselves. The Lord allowed the five who had prepared into the feast, while the other 5 were left out.
Thus we see that the Lord expects us to as James directs and be "doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22).

post 2 grades school and service

I have been realizing lately that it is easy to get caught up in the mundane things in collage life, such as grades, prestige, and GPAs. These things are not meant to be ends in themselves, but measure devices of greater things. Ideally GPAs, grades and awards would simply measure your commitment, dedication, and capacity to serve your fellows. While these things can have important impacts on your future success, they ought to be seen as a doorway to service, or a doorway to a continuation of service that one is already doing. I have begun to learn that service, or uplifting others and bringing joy into their live, ought to be the goal of all that is done. For the Lord said, "when ye are in the service of your fellow being ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17). So I'm trying to incorporate more service into my daily life and stress out a little bit less about grade, awards, etc.