Into the Wilderness
I was reading this morning (yes, even earlier than it is now, at 5:30 AM) about Lehi and how he left his worldly possessions and took his family and fled into the wilderness. Of course, it's not the first time that I've read it or thought this, but I was thinking how each of us is asked to do the very same thing.
The scriptures instruct us to be content with food and raiment because that is enough for us (1 Timothy 6:8). The Lord knows our needs and provides them so that we can devote ourselves to His work. Lehi and his family had need for nothing more. Do we?
Now, I want this to be a short post, for a change, and so all I'm going to ask is this: are we ready to leave behind our worldly possessions and flee into the wilderness? I wonder if Lehi was in debt. Probably not, given the riches he apparently had, but if he was, could he have left with a clear conscience, or would his debt have made him unavailable to the Lord - being in bondage to someone else.
Spiritually, as I said, we're all asked to do this anyway. Our homes are the wilderness encampments from which we go about doing good in the world, seeking "a far better land of promise" (Alma 37:45). The patriarchs of old "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13) and so must we. But unlike them - and in answer to their prayers - to us it is given to receive the promises. To us, it is given to build a house.
This reference may be too enigmatic or obscure, but in the interest of brevity I'll cut it off. I hope we can get back to it later.
The scriptures instruct us to be content with food and raiment because that is enough for us (1 Timothy 6:8). The Lord knows our needs and provides them so that we can devote ourselves to His work. Lehi and his family had need for nothing more. Do we?
Now, I want this to be a short post, for a change, and so all I'm going to ask is this: are we ready to leave behind our worldly possessions and flee into the wilderness? I wonder if Lehi was in debt. Probably not, given the riches he apparently had, but if he was, could he have left with a clear conscience, or would his debt have made him unavailable to the Lord - being in bondage to someone else.
Spiritually, as I said, we're all asked to do this anyway. Our homes are the wilderness encampments from which we go about doing good in the world, seeking "a far better land of promise" (Alma 37:45). The patriarchs of old "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13) and so must we. But unlike them - and in answer to their prayers - to us it is given to receive the promises. To us, it is given to build a house.
This reference may be too enigmatic or obscure, but in the interest of brevity I'll cut it off. I hope we can get back to it later.
Comments
To me, Lehi's experience is a reminder to continually free myself of the "tyranny of things"--because I may be asked to do without them someday, as he was.
The interesting things is, many of the "things" I like best are those that bring me to God. However, I recognize that I must still be willing to give those up for God Himself.
I'm sure that Lehi didn't just leave money; there were probably many other "good" things in that house that he couldn't pack on the trip. But he left them all for the Ultimate Good--God.
We are all faced with the same challenge as Lehi, and we all have to choose: things or God? However, as most of us are unaware of, this choice actually happens everyday--not just once in a lifetime.
Thanks for the food for thought!
First of all, I love the dichotomy you present. It's not just "Satan or God" but "things or God." Things aren't necessarily evil, as is Satan, and God often blesses us with things, but they should never supersede Him. The Lord can both give and take away without losing His perfect character because the things involved in both actions are but temporary tools. The person who says about things, "The Lord gave me this so it will always be mine to do with as I see fit; He will not take it and I will never have to give it back" does not understand the workings of the Lord.
Secondly:
"However, as most of us are unaware of, this choice actually happens everyday--not just once in a lifetime."
This is a really important point. In fact, it's pretty strongly related to the concept behind the title of your blog, unless I'm mistaken. We can be completely different people in attitude, action, and worthiness from day to day if we don't have the consistency/diligence/endurance you describe. So many principles need to be practiced anew daily.
And yet, it's important to learn to see life as more than a single day's work. How many times have the prophets and apostles taught us that some decisions (chastity, missionary service, observance of the Word of Wisdom) need only be made once? I suppose this is another paradox. Each day brings a new opportunity for decision and re-decision, but eternity demands a longer term perspective and commitment.
I guess that consistency/diligence/endurance consists of both daily renewal and lifelong tenacity. Curious.
Thanks for your insightful comments.
I've posted about something similar here, though I've taken a slightly different angle, briefly exploring the pattern of pilgrimage as it comes to Latter-day Saints through the scriptures and our more recent history of pioneering across America. Though we're not required to make physical treks as our forebears were, this wandering through the wilderness holds as much spiritual symbolism for us when we consider, as you allude to, that mortality is the psychological and spiritual wilderness we must make our way through in our quest for the promised land--the celestial kingdom.
The notion of our covenant to consecrate all we have (time, talents, even our lives) to build the Kingdom also seems to be an underlying exploration of your post. Lehi and his family, of course, were asked give up their worldly possessions and to roam through the literal Arabian wilderness and then across the Americas. While we've made covenants to do the same, we aren't required to live the fullness of consecration...yet. Of course, we must devote ourselves, as you say, to God's work. In fact our greatest object, in the words of the Prophet, ought to be the establishment of Zion. And part of that, I think, is the requirement to do our worldly work to a degree of perfection and with a dedication not aspired to by others. This can be part of our influence in bringing the world to Christ, in preparing others and ourselves for the later work of living in Zion and of godhood.
As Saints, we can be successful; we can be prosperous when it comes to the things of the world, and many of us are (though I'm not one of them, though my young family has been extremely blessed). The problem with this comes when, like the other Tyler says, we allow things tyrannical power over our lives. Jacob reminds us that when riches are received and kept in their proper context, they can be a means of doing much good. The problem with prosperity arises when we allow things into the saddle because then, Emerson observes, they "ride mankind." We can refuse to be ridden, however, by remembering that riches/possessions are simply part of our mortal stewardship and that they come from God. There are no pockets in heaven, as the saying goes, but by being faithful in this pecuniary stewardship and in our pilgrimage through mortality's wilderness, we become ready to receive a far greater inheritance in the kingdom to come.
I read your post on pilgrimage and appreciated it. I'm preparing a longer reply to your comment here, but I wanted to say thanks for reading and especially for commenting. I love the regulars who comment here (basically me, the other Tyler, and sometimes my siblings), but new minds are always eagerly anticipated. You give me hope that my sphere of readership is extending beyond the few beloved mentioned above. I particularly appreciate your eloquence and scholarship.
I know this sounds like a kiss-up comment, but I really mean every word of it. I'm just like that. Ask Trevor Banks. :) Thanks again.