I’ve tried many methods over the years to get the most out of the time I spend studying my scriptures. I’ve done a chapter a day; thirty minutes a day; a different topic a day. The problem is that none of them ever worked to the degree I wanted.

I even followed the example of Bruce R. McConkie and once summarised every verse of the Book of Mormon on paper while I commuted to work in downtown Vancouver each weekday. That method helped me more than any other I had used.

Earlier this week, I was inspired with another method. I spend every morning reading between three and five verses. However, I mull over them, read the cross-references, pick out gospel principles and relate them to other passages I had read earlier. This has opened my eyes to an entire new world of scripture study.

In fact, in my scripture study (2 Ne. 5) this morning, I came to an interesting conclusion that I felt I would share with the Shepherd readers. Actually, it was two conclusions.

Firstly, I realised that “the cursing” referred to in verse 21 (after cross-referencing to 2 Ne 1:17-18) was not the commonly thought of blackness, but actually being cut off from the Lord’s presence; the blackness was only a sign of the curse. So often LDS tradition creeps into LDS doctrine and blurs the line between the two.

Secondly, and related to the first conclusion, verse 24 says that “because of their cursing…they did become an idle people”. This really stood out to me. The Lord withdrew His presence (that is, the Holy Spirit) from the Lamanites as a curse because of their wickedness. In response to this, they became idle and lazy.

After I read this, I remember something I had read only a couple of days earlier in verses 15 and 17, and after I compared these verses as well as Mosiah 13:17, I came to the conclusion that having the Lord’s presence in our lives encourages us to be hard workers, while not having His presence in our lives encourages us to be idle.

The Lord doesn’t want idlers in His Church; He wants hard workers; He wants those with put-back shoulders and strong back; He wants grounded noses and greased elbows. After all, these are the people who will be carrying on the work in the millennium. And what a work it will be.

This is not just referring to physical labour as well; spiritual labour (labour for the worth of souls) is just as important. It is easy to go to a job every day; after all, it’s a habit.

The real test comes when we are called upon by the stake missionaries to share the gospel with our friends; when we are assigned a home teaching family that refuses to answer their phone; when we get that two-in-the-morning phone call asking for assistance in a priesthood blessing.

Are we being idle in our spiritual work? Is the Lord’s presence with us in our spiritual lives as well as our physical lives? Perhaps now is as good a time as any to sit back and do an accounting of our labours.

Posted by John in Feature Articles