2 Nephi 28:30
“For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.” I want you to pay special attention to the idea that we will learn wisdom if we hearken and give ear to the Lord’s council.
In this week's reading, in Moses, chapter 6 v. 27 & 28, it says “Repent, for thus saith the Lord: I am angry with this people, for their hearts have waxed hard, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes cannot see afar off and have denied me and have sought their own counsels in the dark” The people of Enoch’s ears were “dull of hearing” and they were “[seeking] their own counsels in the dark.”
Then the chapter goes on to talk about how the Lord chose Enoch to be a prophet. V. 36 says “And he beheld the spirits that God had created, and he beheld also things which were not visible to the natural eye, and from thenceforth came the saying abroad in the land: A seer hath the Lord raised up unto his people.”
In these verses, we are taught not to seek revelation in each other but to look to God and his prophets. We are also taught to continue seeking revelation, even a little at a time.
Prophets have an eternal perspective unlike any of us. Lately, we’ve been talking about the plan of happiness which is essential to eternal perspective. Elder Neil L. Anderson said, “as I prayerfully study the words of the prophet of God and carefully, with patience, spiritually align my will with his inspired teachings, my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ always increases. If we choose to set his counsel aside and determine that we know better, our faith suffers and our eternal perspective is clouded.”
Generally, we have the mentality of line upon line being incremental changes for the better each day. For most people, this isn't reality. We don't always make good changes every day. Sometimes our decisions are not necessarily for the better. However, as long as we are willing to recalibrate to move in a Godward direction with patience we will eventually see the blessings. A good example of this is Moses and the children of israel. In Moses' life, there were many ups and downs but he kept moving forward and relying on the Lord. Moses didn’t even get to see the ultimate fruits of his labor, the promised land, but he received many blessings along the way including his relationship to Heavenly Father. We can also grow closer to God by correcting our path and moving in a Godward direction.
I know that if we listen to the counsel of the prophet and seek personal revelation we will grow closer to God. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
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