Jacob 4<\/a>, today\u2019s reading, for compiling personal and family histories, something that Latter-day Saints are strongly encouraged to do:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers\u2014Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first\u00a0parents. \u00a0For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we\u00a0knew\u00a0of Christ, and we had a hope of his\u00a0glory\u00a0many hundred years before his coming.<\/strong> \u00a0(Jacob 4:2-4)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having a sense of one\u2019s roots, of where one comes from, of one\u2019s background and heritage, can be of enormous value in a largely rootless society that has fetishized novelty and is characterized, more and more, by transience \u2014 and this is a gift that we can offer to those who come after us. \u00a0We can also, importantly, share testimonies of our faith across generations. \u00a0This is not only a possible gift, but, in many ways, an obligation of discipleship.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is much else that might be said of this rich little chapter.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, Jacob\u2019s advice (in verse 10) that we should \u201cseek not to\u00a0counsel\u00a0the Lord, but . . .\u00a0take counsel from his hand\u201d resonates with me, especially at a time when, from my perspective, there are many, even within the Church, who do indeed presume to counsel the Lord, to treat him and his prophets as obtuse, as morally backward and somewhat embarrassing, and as in need of guidance from more enlightened souls (such as themselves).<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also impressed by the Christocentric character of this chapter, which says that all prophets have, in some sense or another, testified of the Savior. \u00a0How some critics can dismiss the Book of Mormon as non-Christian continues to mystify me.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Certainly in its earliest chapters, the Book of Mormon is the chronicle of a small group, essentially of a family. \u00a0 Accordingly, I find inspiration in Jacob 4, today\u2019s reading, for compiling personal and family histories, something that Latter-day Saints are strongly encouraged to do: \u00a0 But we can write a few words […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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