2
Ne 4:15 For my soul delighteth in the scriptures
If
you were to hand a Book of Mormon or a Bible to the average American teenager
and have them read any passage, they would probably not understand what it
meant. They would probably say that the passage was completely boring, and they
would not continue reading unless forced to by a school or church teacher. The
scriptures, on first reading, can be drudgery. How could anyone ¡°delight¡± in
the scriptures?
The
scriptures are like an old pair of shoes. When new, the leather wears on your
feet; the shoes are stiff, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable. With time the shoes
mold to your feet and become like an extension of your natural body. With the
scriptures, the more time you spend with them, the more comfortable they
become. As we persist in reading the scriptures, they become more
understandable, more inspiring, and more delicious to the soul.
The
Lord has invited us to come unto him and learn of him, Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls (Matt 11:28-9). What better way
is there to learn of the Savior than to study the word of God? We need to
develop and foster a love of the scriptures. We need to become like Nephi in
our love of the things of the Lord. The effect of diligent scripture study is
to become strong in the things of the spirit, Alma
did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy,
they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the
knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had
searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God (Alma
17:2).
Spencer
W. Kimball
¡°During
the war in Vietnam, some of our men were taken prisoner and kept in nearly
total isolation. Permitted no access to the scripture, they later told how they
hungered for the words of truth, more than for food, more than for freedom
itself. What they would have given for a mere fragment of the Bible or Book of
Mormon that lay so idly on our shelves? They learned by hard experience
something of Nephi¡¯s feelings when he said: [2 Ne 4:15-16].¡± (Ensign,
Sept. 1976, p. 4 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon
compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 101)