“My Heart Pondereth Them”

Bryan Richards

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 Nephi 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)

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