Matthew: 36-42 

Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Those who hear the word of God, bring it into there hearts and live it are the wheat. Tares are weeds. Those who reject the Word grow along side the believers. This is the world we live in. We can teach we can be the light but we can't choose for others. At the end of it all the tares will be separated from the wheat. Be the light, choose the right. No one can choose for you.

Hearing, Listening and Obedience

One of the first things I learned in higher education is something that I wish had been specifically taught many years before. Maybe they teach it now, I hope so. It is a very simple concept:  hearing is not listening, and listening doesn't necessarily translate into doing.  In today's world very often the words hearing and listening are used interchangeably when they are not actually the same thing.

Hearing is the physical act of hearing someone talk, listening is paying attention to what is being said. This includes comprehension and thinking actively about what is being said. Finally there is the act of doing what is said. In the secular world this is applying the knowledge, when we are talking about Heavenly Father, Jesus and the Spirit this is an act of obedience.

Luke 6:46-49 

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

I don't know if it a change in common usage or a translation aspect (remember these words originally come from Aramaic and Greek). Either way it seems to me that the word hearing here is referring to both aspects hearing and listening.

When we heard the word of the Lord we become responsible for doing what we have been instructed to do. You may recognize these verses as the inspiration for the children's hymn about  The Wise Man and the Foolish Man. It is worth a look again as an adult. We not only have to have a strong faith to build upon our rock but we must act on the knowledge and faith. We are responsible for doing what we have been taught. The rains and the floods will come, if we have acted on what we have been taught we will be the wise man whose house stood firm.

And that leads right back into the first statement Jesus made: "Why do you call me Lord and not do the things I say?"

It was only a four year hiatus...

New Year- New Start

According to my published posts the last time I actually posted anything was May 2015. Well, its been a while - I didn't forget but also didn't get any writing or posting done. Let's start again and see where we go from here.

We are Responsible For Our Own Learning

This year my Church as started a new learning program - well, perhaps not so new as a shift in emphasis. For those of you who followed me through what I posted while an online student at BYU-Idaho (Graduated!!)

You may remember that BYU (on all campuses) follows something called Disciple Leadership along with the honor code. As a student, as a member of the Church and as a responsible person you are responsible for your own learning, your own actions, your own walk with Christ and your own life.  That doesn't mean that you are not going to learn from teachers, but it does mean that how much and how well you learn is up to you.  You are also encourage to not only learn from your peers but to teach your peers. It is a great way to learn lifetime learning skills and to carry them into the real world.

The Church as taken that and applied it to our weekly church schedule.  Our new books are entitled Come Follow Me and it lays out the lessons for the entire year and it is our job as members to read and study before church and to be ready to discuss during Sunday School, Relief Society, Priesthood or Primary (whichever group you are in). It think its a great way to reinforce the fact that we are suppose to be studying the scriptures on our own, it helps focus the discussion in class because its not the first time seeing the material and really allows for in home discussions about the material because we are all doing the same lessons!

This year we are studying the New Testament. I am making it my goal to post every week, because of our church schedule along with the New Testament you will see posts about our Relief Society talks, possibly Primary class tie ins.

I want to extend the invitation to anyone who wants to study as well- here is the online link for Come Follow Me  I hope some of you will follow along.  Finally, of course I will discuss LIFE. This is a blog about Life, and my life also includes family, hobbies, cooking, activities and all the normal stuff.

Once again, sorry about the long break, as we go along I'll try and catch you up with what happened over the last 4 years- its allot :)

Leadership and Responsiblity

Thoughts on Leadership and Responsibility

It is known that the Lord calls who He wants and needs.  We don't always agree with His choices, but He always knows who is best for the job. Often we learn much from what we are called to do. In some cases others learn just as much from watching our journey to live up to our callings. Moses did not see himself as a leader at all, yet he is remembered as a great leader. He argued with the Lord, he insisted that he could not do this and was granted Aaron to help him speak. Moses and Aaron leaned upon the Lord and through His power freed the children of Israel and led them for over 40 years. 

 

How many of us have said "I am not a leader." How many of us have said "I don't want that responsibility" I can't be just me right?  Well, how about we all start with this. Moses's journey started when he stopped an Egyptian from abusing a Hebrew slave.  Let's start by being responsible for ourselves - following the commandments and then lets take the next step being aware of those around us. Doing whatever small actions we can to make life better for those around us. By taking action to help others we are being leaders and obeying the commandment to serve others all at the same time.