3 Nephi 25

 

Verses 1-3: The Gardener

What does this teach me about the atonement?

I sense tenderness in the Savior's voice this time when He speaks of the proud and the wicked being burned as stubble.  His great hope is for His garden to flourish! When it does not, He must do the requisite tending.  He took on a universe of suffering in order to minimize ours.  It's all part of His mission. Anyone who would elect to suffer so for that purpose, cannot be accused of capricious vengeance. Never. He sees all and knows when it's best for one strain of the garden to cease proliferation (when it has become a cancer that's destroying itself).

But if we allow it, He will heal us and raise us up in the shelter of His tender care (as "calves in the stall," benign and gentle).

Lesson for me?

*When I indulge in pride, attempting to one-up others in my mind, or in interactions, I am destroying myself and my joy. I must let go and be a calf in the Savior's stall.

Verse 4: The Law of Moses

What does this teach me about the atonement?

The atonement benefits those who keep the Savior in mind and follow Him.  This is what the Law of Moses was designed to prepare the people to do.  It teaches the principles of sacrifice and invites order and structure to the people's lives.  After talking to my knowledgeable husband, I have a better idea of why it's mentioned here: I think the Savior is saying that, while the law with its strict accords and swift retribution has been fulfilled, in letter, with the Savior's great sacrifice, the principles are in force, and consequences will eventually be borne out, largely at His second coming, if not before.

Lesson for me?

*Remember that our God is a God of justice as well as mercy, and wants His children home under optimal conditions.  He will see to it that all is right in the end.

Verses 5-6: Promise of Elijah 

What does this teach me about the atonement?

Again, the atonement was all about a grand family reunion.  The atonement powers the ministry and progression  of prophets, often with unique emphases.  Elijah's domain is the power of sealing families into eternal lines.  He came to restore that power to Joseph Smith and the modern day church of Christ. I found a very thorough discussion of this here:

http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=1410

D&C 2:1-3 reads, 

"And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

"If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming".

In other words, our life on earth is a profound waste if we do not take the opportunity to bind our families together for eternity.

(I don't say that this precludes actual destruction because I think it probable that physical destruction will accompany the Savior's next appearance as well... only that a deeper meaning can be found in His words.)

Because Jesus loves us so much, enough to suffer and die for us, he wants us to maintain our relationships with those dearest to our hearts.

I want to ponder and understand more about why the sealing ordinance is necessary to preserve these relationships.  

I believe the sealing ordinance (this is just a temporal, prosaic interpretation because I'm sure there's more to it than I can comprehend in my current state) makes our family relations more intentional. It is a covenant: a 3 way promise between yourself, your spouse and the Lord, which extends naturally to your offspring.  By going through it, we commit to them, in the presence of witnesses, our intention to love them for eternity.  Those who are dead, who have the ordinance performed by proxy, have the option to accept and endorse it, or reject it.  Not electing to have the ordinance indicates that we don't value the relationship or our spiritual progress enough to preserve it.  Without the intentionality of commitment, and the other covenants and requirements of worthiness associated with the ordinance, our natural man tendencies would mean the natural deterioration of our loving bonds.  In short, we have to want it.

Lesson for me?

*Recommit to a weekly family blog post as a means of family history.  Set a stopwatch when you go on Facebook for any reason, and do not return to it until you've spent that same amount of time on FamilySearch, with an eye toward preparing names for the temple. Get the kids doing it as well, as a Sunday activity.