Sparks and Fire
Today I got to read one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 7. Yes, this is an "Isaiah" chapter. There are a lot of reasons to love this chapter, from the perfecttion of verses 1-2 to the beautiful and strong testimony of Isaiah in verses 4-9. However, for me, the last two verses have special meaning.
Verses 10-11 say...
10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?
11. Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand--ye shall lie down in sorrow.
In verse 10, is asks who could fear the Lord and who obeys the voice of his servant, but still walks in darkness and has no light. How could that be, right?! Let's look at this carefully:
Fear the Lord
David Bednar, said regarding "The Fear of the Lord": The righteous fear I am attempting to describe encompasses a deep feeling of reverence, respect, and awe for the Lord Jesus Christ, obedience to His commandments, and anticipation of the Final Judgment and justice at His hand.
Obeys the voice of his servant
This is simple - the servant of the Lord is the Prophet or other leaders called of God. So this is someone who obeys the prophets.
Walks in darkness and has no light
To walk without light would be to walk without the Spirit.
How can this be possible? I know first hand. I have been in this state before, and it is miserable.
In verse 11, it describes how - and that is to "walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled."
What does that mean?
Lets look at the example of the Pharisees and Sadducees from the time of Christ. They certainly "feared God" - although they did not know or understand Christ. They certainly obeyed the commandments of the the Lord's servants - they were famous for following the "laws". However, they were without light because there was no Spirit in what they did. They did not acknowledge or understand that role of the grace and mercy of Christ and the atonement. They did not understand the very reason for their rituals and sacrifices. They believed that their own works and obedience would save them - as if there were some score kept and they simply had to score more points through their efforts and that they would pay for their own mistakes and be done with it.
Our own efforts are sparks and fire. But they are weak and are not true light. By our own works and hand we will "lie down in sorrow". I have known what it feels like to fear the Lord, obey his servants, but still walk in darkness. It was on my mission when I believed that by my efforts, I would complete some formula and thus earn success. I obeyed all the rules and certainly feared God. But I did not seek out and follow the Spirit as I should have. It was these verses that shook me out of that - that helped me see what I had done wrong.
Our number one goal each day should be to seek out the Spirit - to find its light and walk by it as much as possible. Everything else should work toward that end - our obedience and fear of God should indeed inspire effort, but effort that is spiritually focused on gaining, hearing, and following the Spirit. Nothing else is light. Everything else is walking in darkness.
It was a great reminder again to me today that I must not fall into the trap of thinking I must or can or should try to do it alone. I must not think that somehow my efforts are worthy of being more than fire or sparks. I would rather walk in the full daylight of the Spirit. Yes, my efforts are needed to achieve that, but there is a distinct mental and spiritual difference in how we approach things. On the one hand there is a checklist that we pursue and then hold our hands out to warm by the fire resulting from our efforts. And on the other hand, there is a looking to God first, to humbly ask for his help, his guidance, and then to work under his direction. The checklist might still be the same, but we acknowledge that we are second. It is a positioning of ourselves in a relationship with God.
I hope we all find a way each day to make contact with, and maintain contact with the Spirit. Nothing else is more important.
Love ya all. Have a great day!
Brother Clark
Verses 10-11 say...
10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?
11. Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand--ye shall lie down in sorrow.
In verse 10, is asks who could fear the Lord and who obeys the voice of his servant, but still walks in darkness and has no light. How could that be, right?! Let's look at this carefully:
Fear the Lord
David Bednar, said regarding "The Fear of the Lord": The righteous fear I am attempting to describe encompasses a deep feeling of reverence, respect, and awe for the Lord Jesus Christ, obedience to His commandments, and anticipation of the Final Judgment and justice at His hand.
Obeys the voice of his servant
This is simple - the servant of the Lord is the Prophet or other leaders called of God. So this is someone who obeys the prophets.
Walks in darkness and has no light
To walk without light would be to walk without the Spirit.
How can this be possible? I know first hand. I have been in this state before, and it is miserable.
In verse 11, it describes how - and that is to "walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled."
What does that mean?
Lets look at the example of the Pharisees and Sadducees from the time of Christ. They certainly "feared God" - although they did not know or understand Christ. They certainly obeyed the commandments of the the Lord's servants - they were famous for following the "laws". However, they were without light because there was no Spirit in what they did. They did not acknowledge or understand that role of the grace and mercy of Christ and the atonement. They did not understand the very reason for their rituals and sacrifices. They believed that their own works and obedience would save them - as if there were some score kept and they simply had to score more points through their efforts and that they would pay for their own mistakes and be done with it.
Our own efforts are sparks and fire. But they are weak and are not true light. By our own works and hand we will "lie down in sorrow". I have known what it feels like to fear the Lord, obey his servants, but still walk in darkness. It was on my mission when I believed that by my efforts, I would complete some formula and thus earn success. I obeyed all the rules and certainly feared God. But I did not seek out and follow the Spirit as I should have. It was these verses that shook me out of that - that helped me see what I had done wrong.
Our number one goal each day should be to seek out the Spirit - to find its light and walk by it as much as possible. Everything else should work toward that end - our obedience and fear of God should indeed inspire effort, but effort that is spiritually focused on gaining, hearing, and following the Spirit. Nothing else is light. Everything else is walking in darkness.
It was a great reminder again to me today that I must not fall into the trap of thinking I must or can or should try to do it alone. I must not think that somehow my efforts are worthy of being more than fire or sparks. I would rather walk in the full daylight of the Spirit. Yes, my efforts are needed to achieve that, but there is a distinct mental and spiritual difference in how we approach things. On the one hand there is a checklist that we pursue and then hold our hands out to warm by the fire resulting from our efforts. And on the other hand, there is a looking to God first, to humbly ask for his help, his guidance, and then to work under his direction. The checklist might still be the same, but we acknowledge that we are second. It is a positioning of ourselves in a relationship with God.
I hope we all find a way each day to make contact with, and maintain contact with the Spirit. Nothing else is more important.
Love ya all. Have a great day!
Brother Clark
Comments
Post a Comment