Well, it’s Saturday, and every Latter-day Saint knows (or should know) that “Saturday is a special day, it’s the day we get ready for Sunday” (Children’s Songbook, pg 196). Part of getting ready for Sunday means finishing up your reading of the Sunday school and Relief Society/Elder’s Quorum lesson. If you’ve been following the LDS families blog throughout the week, you’ve been able to read each segment of the two lessons as they have been published. However, for those who are running a bit behind – or who procrastinated their lesson study until this week, I’d like to provide you with a quick summary of what we’ve studied. If nothing else, perhaps this review might help you recall some of the lesson and some of your thoughts (which I would love to hear).
Sunday School first. We’re studying the second lesson in the New Testament manual, “My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord“, which includes the first book of Luke and the first book of Matthew. I didn’t post a lot of lessons on the New Testament this week, for various reasons, but hopefully you were able to finish the reading.
In Gospel Doctrine: Because Thou Believest Not My Words, we talked about the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Zacharias in the temple, and Zacharias’ subsequent doubt. This was closely followed by Gospel Doctrine: A Pure and Chosen Vessel, which compared Mary’s reaction to Gabriel’s announcement. Mary, it seemed, more easily trusted in the angel of the Lord and did not doubt the promptings of the Holy Spirit which surely accompanied this divine messenger. Finally, tonight we examined Joseph’s character and his angelic visitation in Gospel Doctrine: A Just Man.
Now, on to Relief Society and Elder’s Quorum. We read the first lesson from the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, entitled “To Live With Him Someday.” Many of the discussions from this week centered on the same topic, which is not surprising, since the whole lesson is themed. In RS/EQ: Ye Ought ‘Not Procrastinate the Day of Your Repentance’, we discussed the human vice of procrastination. Too often, we either seek to put off repentance until tomorrow, or we tell ourselves that God “will justify in committing a little sin”. President Kimball and the scriptures teach otherwise, and encourage us to repent frequently and not put it off until tomorrow.
In RS/EQ: Endure To The End, we talked about the need to remain committed to Christ throughout the entirety of our life. We must constantly evaluate how firmly our feet are trodding the gospel path. This relates to the next day’s lesson, RS/EQ: Casually But Not Devoutly, in which we discuss the need to firmly follow the Lord’s plan and live the gospel wholeheartedly.
Once the lesson manual was completed, we began to study the related scriptures. In RS/EQ: Doers of the Word, we discuss the need to do more than listen to the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets. We must act on the things we hear. Finally, in RS/EQ: The Time to Prepare to Meet God, we reviewed how this life the time for us to prove our devotion to God by keeping his commandments. We also discussed how procrastinating repentance slowly damages our faith.
As I spent this week studying and pondering the scriptures, I felt my testimony of both the Savior and of President Kimball’s divine role as prophet increasing. I hope that some of the thoughts I shared helped to inspire you to study your scriptures and prepare for your classes. I would love to have you contribute any thoughts or feelings you might have had on the subjects. In the meantime, I eagerly anticipate tomorrow’s class and the opportunity to spiritually grow even further.