Theology – Page 6 – Ammon Shepherd

Blind Sabbath

I read John chapter 8 today. This is the story of Jesus healing the blind man on the Sabbath day. I think there are two important lessons to learn here. One about faith, and the other about the Sabbath day.

Faith

Jesus heals a man that has been blind from birth. All of the Jews know him (the Pharisees at least), so they know that he is truly blind. But in their hard hearts and spiteful minds, they can not see the great miracle that happened, and only see the supposed violation of the law of the Sabbath. The Pharisees had always wanted a miracle to happen for them to believe Jesus, yet here is one they can not deny, but won’t believe because they interpret the act as a violation of a law. The Pharisees question the man, trying to understand, and trying to find some proof that Jesus is of the devil. I love the reply of the man who was healed.

30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born ^ablind.
33 If this man were not of ^aGod, he could do nothing.

The man, through logic and faith, testifies that any man who can heal a blind man must be of God. The Pharisees, with pride and unbelief, cast him out. Jesus seeks out the man and asks him if he believes on the Son of God. The man wants to know who he is, and upon learning it is Jesus, immediately believes and worships him.

Such great faith. We must also have such great faith. It comes only when your heart and mind are open to receive it.

Sabbath

The other lesson to learn is about the Sabbath day. Division arose among the Pharisees because some believed the breaking of the Sabbath law greater than the miracle done. Others questioned, can a sinner do such a great miracle? This brings out the great debate between the letter and the spirit of the law. In this case Jesus broke neither, but it is a question and debate we should all have with our Sabbath observance. Jesus did not break the letter of the law. As he explained at a different occurance, even the Pharisees will feed and water their animals, should not a human being be blessed with site?

I have read often how the current prophets and apostles have declared that the Sabbath day should be kept holy. That great blessings come from this observance, and great calamities come with breaking it. I’m always amazed at people who claim to have a strong belief in Jesus Christ a testimony and desire to follow his commandments, yet can not follow one of the simple Ten Commandments. They shop, work, and play on the Sabbath day, and it’s just not right. They break the law and the spirit when they do not have their hearts set on serving other people and worshiping God.

Anyhow, those were a couple of thoughts I had today.

Eat the flesh, drink the blood

As I was skimming through John chapter 6 looking for instances of prayer, I slowed down and read the reply of Jesus to the multitude who had followed him after he miraculously fed them bread and fish. They wanted more of that tangible food for which they had to do no work, but was provided by the Son of God. At least four times in this chapter Jesus uses the phrase “verliy, verily” to begin his reply to the people. This does not happen often. It means literaly “truely, truely” and signifies that what he is about to say is of utmost importance (as is everything he says).

Continue reading Eat the flesh, drink the blood

Toothbrush Analogy

This was one of the previous posts…

These are thoughts I had once while thinking about members of my family who are inactive, and while brushing my teeth. I wondered if they will become more active as they get older, have kids, and realize the great things they missed out on.

Toothbrush Analogy

As a kid, you might not like brushing your teeth. For whatever reason, you’ve decided that it’s not for you. Your parents might have made you do it. You might not like the dentist visits: they make you feel uncomfortable, you might not believe the things they say, etc. Perhaps the thought of having to brush morning and night, day in and day out, no breaks, no holidays, just makes you upset. For whatever reason, you just don’t like to brush.

Well, one day you are going to realize the importance of teeth brushing. It might be as a kid, still, when you get 5 cavities that hurt like the dickens. You might realize that if you take care of your teeth you won’t get cavities and they won’t hurt. It might be as an adult when you have to pay for your own cavities, or when you have your own kids and have to pay for theirs. It might even be when you’re putting in your brand new set of dentures, that you finally realize that if you had taken care of your teeth, that you would still have some.

The Gospel is the same way. Whether you don’t believe, or don’t want to. Whether your parent’s made you go to Church and Seminary, or because you don’t like the bishop office visits, or because you have to live the commandments morning and night, day in and day out, no breaks, no holidays… Or for whatever reason you don’t.

There will come a day when you will have to acknowledge and finally realize that the Gospel is true. You will have to acknowledge that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true Church of God in these times. You will bow to your knees and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is your Savior, Creator, and Redeemer. The day may come when you feel the Spirit at a meeting you were forced to attend, or when you see a small miracle happen in your life. It may come when you are having hard times as an adult and finally humble yourself to God. It might come when you have kids of your own and you realize how much the Church and the Gospel and Christ can really do for you. It might even come after you die and are forced to acknoweldge the further existence of your spirit. It might be when you stand before Jesus Christ and take an account of all your thoughts, words, and deeds-good and bad-and are judged accordingly. Whatever the reason, one day you WILL realize the TRUTH.

Don’t wait for your teeth to fall out before you realize that brushing your teeth is a good thing. And don’t wait until you are standing before our Savior Jesus Christ to finally acknowledge that what you have been and are being taught is the truth. Gain a testimony now! Do the simple things to gain the greatest. Say your prayers, read the scriptures, live the commandments. Prepare yourself so that day may be a Great one and not a Terrible one.

Meeting your wife's expectations

This is the talk I gave in Elders Quorum today. You’ll notice a part where I challenge the brethren to pick a chore to do around the house in order to be more helpful. I told the Relief Society beforehand that I would do so. The brethren weren’t please with me! 🙂 This principle, though, is more than meeting your wife’s expectations, but meeting Christ’s expectations. Becoming a better person, even like He is.

You’ll also notice the previous posts are missing. Well… I inadvertently deleted them while setting up missionjournal.org. And to make it worse, the posts for Mission Journal aren’t working either.

Anyhow, enjoy the lesson.

Continue reading Meeting your wife's expectations