Wednesday, May 28, 2014

2 Nephi 17-24

Again in these chapters we are reading the Prophet Isaiah's words, as quoted by the Nephite prophet Jacob. These words are rich in symbolism, and these specific chapters tell the story of the birth of Christ, His mortal ministry, His death, the time called the Apostasy when the fullness of the Gospel was not upon the earth, the restoration, the last days and Second Coming of Christ, and the time following which we call the Millenium.
Though there is a lot of material to cover, I want to focus on just one particular verse, something I struggle with and I am sure a lot of other people do too: pride.
In 2 Nephi 20:15, which can be compared to Isaiah 10:15, the Lord compares us to tradesman's tools, saying, "Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood!"
We are the ax, and the saw, the rod and the wood! We have no room to boast of our strengths, smarts, wisdom, gifts, talents or anything else. We are given all that we have by the Lord, out of His tender mercy. We should praise the Lord for all we have, all we might have, and all we have had. It is Him who gifted these things to us, and just as an ax would not talk of its might, but rather the strength and skill of the operator, we should also give thanks and glory to our Heavenly Father for all He has given us.

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