SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES

The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ – Helaman 5: 5-13

For they remembered the words which their father Helaman spake unto them. And these are the words which he spake: Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents (Lehi – Nephi) who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.

Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them.

And now my sons, behold I have somewhat more to desire of you, which desire is, that ye may not do these things that ye may boast, but that ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life, which we have reason to suppose hath been given to our fathers. O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.

And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

And it came to pass that these were the words which Helaman taught to his sons; yea, he did teach them many things which are not written, and also many things which are written.

We have often been given the admonition not only to read the scriptures, but to search them. We have also been given examples of various ways to accomplish this task such as; choosing a subject in the topical guide and then read, study and learn what the scriptures teach about that subject, another way might be while reading the scriptures chronologically take time to read all the references at the bottom of each page and I have even heard of those who do the flip the pages of the scriptures, blindly point to a verse and then do an exhaustive study of the principle in that verse.

One of my favorite ways of searching the scriptures includes the following steps:
While doing the first reading of a new set of scriptures I key word each verse as I read. Although my key wording would be marking the verses in red rather than bolding them as I have the verses from chapter 5 of Helaman above.

During subsequent readings, such as I have been doing as I have been writing Thoughts for a Sabbath Day based on the Book of Mormon, my searching often involves pondering upon what I have come to understand about the passages I have key worded.

I hope in the following paragraphs to demonstrate examples of my searching/pondering process. You will immediately realize that this process needs no structure nor proper sequencing, just allowing the thoughts to flow and fill one’s consciousness.

Keep the commandments – declare unto the people these words

Although the gospel good news is based on eternal truth, the sincerity of my declarations of these truths will only be of efficacy to those who might hear my words to the degree I am faithfully living them.

Have we not been taught an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit.

Should my lack of perfection keep me from being a witness, it seems even the least of us can contribute to the current degree of our current understanding and faithfulness.

Etc. …

Given names of first parents – remember them – their works – they were good

My own surname, a portion of the names sons and grandsons have been known in my ancestral line for at least eight generations.

In an age when parents seem to place names upon their children based on cleverness and uniqueness we may have lost the benefit of bearing the name of those whose lives and sacrifices made our existence and comforts possible.

When people lose the ancestral anchors which hold them in place during the storms of life the possibility of drifting away from established safe paths may become greater.

Etc. …

Do these things that ye may boast – lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven – that precious gift of eternal life

How often do we forget the purpose for all we do is to please God not our brothers and sisters?
When ever we seek and receive the acclamations of our brothers and sisters we have our reward and should not expect any when the life span passes.

Setting one’s sight on some level of earthly honor rather than eternal life is short sighted and will usually result in one falling far short of the most precious treasures.

Etc. …

Words which king Benjamin spake – words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom

A person seldom rises to a level higher than they whom they choose as their mentors.

Once one has a testimony that there are those who have been commissioned to speak words which have come to them from everlasting sources, it behooves them to be especially attentive to those words.

One is on a dangerous path which could cause them to end up in a pit, when they convince themselves they have the ultimate answers to the purposes of life.

Etc. …

Not come to redeem them in their sins – redeem them from their sins - because of repentance -sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance – power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

Upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you – foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

It is wonderful that the first principles of the gospel remain consistent in all dispensations. Later in this chapter the ordinance of baptism is also spoken of.

I often wonder about how many religious traditions are really necessary. Boyd K. Packer once made the statement that the only thing we need besides the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are the words of the Lord found in the scriptures and the living prophets.

This passage gives added meaning to the words of the primary song which stated, the wise man built his house upon a rock.

Etc. …

I don’t believe this method of searching the scriptures will result in one becoming a scriptural scholar, but I have found it a useful tool to help remind and reassure me of those ideas and teachings I value and desire to be part of my life.

I pray the Lord will lead each of us to the methods of searching the scriptures which will cause them to be treasures in our hearts, pearls of great price and the words which will lead us unto eternal life.


THOUGHTS FOR A SABBATH DAY – WILLIAM L. RILEY

EDITED BY – KATHLEEN W. RILEY

❣️THINK + PLAN + PREPARE + DO ➡️ GENTLENESS + KINDNESS + CARING + GENEROSITY ➡️ HUGS + PEACE + JOY + LOVE ➡️ INTEGRITY + FAITH + HOPE + CHARITY❣️ = 💞THE GOOD LIFE💞