President Ezra Taft Benson declared:
“There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called ‘the words of life’ (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance. … [You will also enjoy] increased love and harmony in the home, greater respect between parent and child, [and] increased spirituality and righteousness.”
“These promises,” President Benson assured, “are not idle promises, but exactly what the Prophet Joseph Smith meant when he said the Book of Mormon will help us draw nearer to God” (GC, Oct. 1986)
I have found over my life, that these words are true. I have taught that they are true. And one can receive the blessings from that power according to the personal diligence that one gives to the book. I taught my seminary students that if they were to do nothing but carry that book in their arms to and from school, and between classes and lay it beside them during classes, they would receive strength from it. How much more then, could they receive from it, if they opened it up and looked at the pictures now and again? And if so, how much more strength could they receive from it if they actually read from its passages? And then – what if they chose to start at the beginning and read it through? And finally, WHAT COULD BE OUR BLESSING if we seriously engage in an earnest STUDY of it? With a faith filled desire to know and understand its mysteries?
I testify from my own personal experience that the power and strength one receives from the Book of Mormon, will be in direct association to the time and focus one devotes to it. There is, as President Benson promised – “a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book.”
Who among us does not want
* greater power to resist temptation?
* power to avoid deception?
* power to stay on the strait and narrow path?
* life in greater and greater abundance?
* increased love and harmony in the home?
* greater respect between parent and child?
* increased spirituality and righteousness?
Are you kidding? What would I be willing to give in order to see these promises fulfilled in my life? What would YOU be willing to give to see them fulfilled in your life?
As with so many things that come from God, the deal is not complicated. The answer in fact, is deceptively simple. ‘Simple’ does not necessarily mean ‘easy to do’, it just means ‘straightforward’ and ‘uncomplicated’. A prophet of God – Ezra Taft Benson, promised me that “When [I] begin to hunger and thirst after those words . … ” I will see those blessings manifest in my life. I took him at his word. I engaged in the ‘challenge’, and I though I loved the book before, my appreciation for it increased exponentially, and my love deepened.
Warmly,
Cindy Suelzle