Tag Archives: Love the Lord

Day 82: Where my treasure is

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Ether 14:1

As I read in Ether 14 about the curse on the land, I remembered a related experience I had a few years ago. In Ether 14 the Jaredites have become so wicked that they are on a crash-course for total destruction. The “curse on the land,” as Ether and Moroni call it, resulted in material possessions disappearing: “if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon his shelf, or upon the place wither he would keep it, behold, upon the morrow, he could not find it” (Ether 14:1).

Whether this means that people were stealing each other’s stuff or something else, I’m not sure. But a few years ago, when we first moved to our current state, things started disappearing from our car. It culminated (for me) in the theft of my iPod. It feels really trivial now and I’m a little embarrassed to admit, but I was really mad about it. For years. I used to listen to music every day on it. All my favorite music was there. I also had recordings of myself singing on my mission, recordings from a choir I sang with, favorite audiobooks. Suddenly I didn’t have any of it anymore. I had to accept that I would never get it back.

I take the history from Ether as a warning that the “curse” could come back. Certainly theft is a major problem in our society and it will probably only get worse. But the warning I really took to heart this time is to let go of material things. Jesus taught, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21, NT; 3 Nephi 13:21). I really treasured my iPod. The length of my bitterness (and anger at my husband for not locking the car) should have been a big red flag to me that my heart wasn’t in the right place.

I am trying to change my attitude toward material possessions and change my heart to treasure my family, my faith, and my God more than anything else in the world.

Day 64: To whom do I give my substance?

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Helaman 13:28

Samuel the Lamanite was a remarkable prophet. He appears so bold and fearless in the scriptures, a Lamanite prophet who preaches among the Nephites to call them to repentance. And when the people try to cast him out, stone him, throw him into prison, he goes back according to the Lord’s directions and preaches some more. As part of Samuel’s preaching and prophecy, he condemns the fickleness of the people and points out that they will believe anyone and everything except God’s true prophets and the truth, their belief being manifest in their willingness to pay and support the lifestyle of “anyone”:

But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet.

Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him. (Helaman 13:27-28)

I realized several years ago that how I spend money is a pretty clear indication of what I value. Not only that, but when I buy clothing or other products, I am supporting a brand, the image or values that brand promotes, and the creators/purveyors of that brand and their agenda. As I read Helaman 13:28 I couldn’t help but think of reticence to paying tithing. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we pay 10% of our increase to the Lord and the money is administered by the Church according to God’s direction. Tithing can be a tremendous blessing to those who keep that law. It can be a great sacrifice for many, but it helps refine us in important ways. And I always say, God can do more good with my 10% than I can with my 90%. So, some people have problems paying tithing, that’s not going to be a shock to anyone. I’m not going to comment on those concerns and I certainly don’t want to pass judgment. But if we reflect for a moment on how we spend money (e.g. what clothes we buy, what cable television stations we subscribe to, what magazines we order and read, etc.), we may discover that we’ve been paying “tithing” all along, but to other gods.

This principle holds true as well for how we spend time: how we spend money reflects what we value. If we pay God first, that’s a pretty clear demonstration of priorities and our commitment to Him.