Does being righteous mean we get material blessings?

Leviticus 26 sure makes it seem so.  Here's the first line of the chapter heading: "Temporal and spiritual blessings will abound in Israel if the people keep the commandments."  The Book of Mormon is also full of examples.  Here's one example:

Alma 48:15 And this was their faith, that by so doing God would prosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger;

But on the other hand, bad things happen to good people.  And there are lots of poor righteous folks.

At Stake Conference this weekend, our Stake President gave a talk about how the Gospel doesn't exist to change the path we walk, to make it easier, but to change us as we walk it.  The Book of Mormon has examples of that, too.  Here's one:

Mosiah 24:15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

Is that an example of "prospering" or a "temporal and spiritual blessing" that abounds when you're righteous?

I've certainly felt those blessings as I've tried to give my agency back to the Lord and work to accomplish His will.  But my income is actually less than when I wasn't doing that as well.  But I wasn't as happy.  If prospering means being cheerful, patient, and blessed, instead of rich, that's a pretty good trade.

Faith and Judgment

I'm reading Increase in Learning by Elder David A. Bednar.  In Chapter 3 (there are only 4), Elder Bednar reaches this conclusion after rehearsing the scriptural story of the Lord's response to those he had called on missions and who had sought guidance about how to get where they were going: "They were to exercise faith, use good judgment, act in accordance with the direction of the Spirit, and determine the best way to travel to their assignments."

Further, he writes, "We should always pray for guidance and direction.  We should always seek for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.  But we should to be dismayed or discouraged if answers to our petitions for direction or help do not necessarily come quickly."  Sometimes, the Lord's guidance is to do "as seemeth you good, it mattereth not unto me" (D&C 62:5).

That can be a frustrating answer, because it seemeth like no answer at all. But the truth is that if we use good judgment, are in tune with the Spirit, and are willing to follow the Lord's bidding wherever we go, He will be able to make use of us wherever that is.

So, I ended up in South Jordan.  I'll have a new home teaching assignment and new neighbors.  And the Lord is free to use me as he will.  I will focus on what does matter, which is what I do while I'm here.

Prayers for what's important

You've probably never heard of Eric Metaxas.  I heard an interview with him the other day about this speech, which he delivered at the National Prayer Breakfast last week, preceding President Obama.  It's a great speech about the nature of prayer and faith, and the contrast between those and false religiosity of the kind Jesus condemned in the Pharisees during His ministry.  If you've got 20 minutes, watch the whole thing. (Metaxas starts 35 minutes in.)



In his interview on the radio, Metaxas described his preparation for the speech, which was the biggest of his life.  Metaxas is an author of some note, but hardly a celebrity, and certainly not used to opening for the President of the United States.

Metaxas talked about his prayers prior to the speech.  He prayed that the Lord would speak through him the words He wanted said.  It was a real "Thy will be done" attitude.  I'd imagine it takes a lot of faith to turn it all over to the Lord at an event like this.

I've had moments like that in some sense.  I've never spoken at an event with POTUS, but in my own life some events are more important than others.  I think of my first debate when I was 18 and running for city council in Foster City.  There have been times when I've known that people I love need and I knew would ask for blessings.  At times like that I pray hard and a lot that the Spirit will be with me, and I make sure that nothing in my own life stands in the way.

But at times that are less important, I'm not as prayerful, and sin tends to creep in, since I'm not so focused on it.  But, why aren't I?  What seems important to me at those times I know is different than what's important to the Lord.  There's nothing more important to Him than my ultimate happiness and my achieving Eternal Life.  That's his whole work (Moses 1:39).  Not just mine, of course, but yours, too.

If we are truly about living by His will, we'll take same level of faith and reliance on the Lord for what we think is important and put it into what He thinks is important, namely us.  We should pray for ourselves (and for others) as though we're most important, because we are to Him.

I think that takes a special kind of oxymoronic thinking.  We have to realize that we are so important to the Lord that we are entitled to that level of blessings, but also that we're so dependent on Him that we must put the highest level of faith and humility into our prayers every day.

Of temples and tabernacles

I finished the book of Exodus last week.  I have one further thought to what I wrote here.

The description of the "tabernacle of the congregation" is very detailed. Further, Exodus describes "washing," "annointing," the "robes" worn inside, as well as "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" inscribed on the outside of the building.

In short, the last third of Exodus is a description of a temple.  I'm glad to be part of a temple-building church.  The Church of Christ throughout the bible is one of temples, clearly the most important project that Israel had and completed after leaving Egypt.  The Church of Christ still is a church of temples.

"They had done it as the Lord had commanded"

In The Ten Commandments, there's not much that happens between when Moses leads the children of Israel out of Egypt until he comes down from the mount with the stone tablets and breaks them.



In the Book of Exodus, there's a lot, and it's mostly very detailed instructions about how to build the Tabernacle of the Congregation and what to put in it and where.

As I read the many chapters with these specific instructions (dimensions, colors, space between pillars, how to hang curtains) I had the thought that the lesson taught here is one of exactness.



That word appears only once in the Standard Works, in Alma 57:21--"Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them." That's in reference to the 2,000 Stripling Warriors.

But Exodus ends with a similar sentiment:

Exodus 39:43--"And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them."

Exodus 40 uses the phrase, "as the Lord commanded" several times also.

These can serve as reminders that we should follow God's commands with exactness in our own lives.