October 5, 2016
Started each morning with a batch of spirituality at Seminary!
I LOVE THIS PICTURE
I LOVE THIS PICTURE
I'm not sure who drew it but it is the best depiction I've ever seen.
Seminary was wonderful and Kim is a great teacher! They are studying the New Testament. In Matthew 19:24 it says: "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God". Usually when we think of an eye of a needle we think of a sewing needle (which really would be impossible for a camel to go through)
but as this picture depicts the entrance to get inside the wall is referred to as the "eye of the needle" and the camel (us) has to shed all that he is carrying (our baggage; sins, mistakes, grudges, etc.) and then submit to kneeling down (humble oneself) and go through the strait and narrow passageway (Gods Commandments) to get inside the city walls (Eternal Life and Exaltation). Thinking of the entrance to Eternal Life as a literal eye of a threading needle would make it impossible to live with
God, whereas, understanding the real meaning makes us realize that it is possible and attainable for us to live with our Heavenly Father (we just need to do our part)! So Cool! This was one of the great lessons Kim taught (she explained and gave a much better lesson, this is just my condensed version).
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2003/02/words-of-jesus-riches?lang=eng
but as this picture depicts the entrance to get inside the wall is referred to as the "eye of the needle" and the camel (us) has to shed all that he is carrying (our baggage; sins, mistakes, grudges, etc.) and then submit to kneeling down (humble oneself) and go through the strait and narrow passageway (Gods Commandments) to get inside the city walls (Eternal Life and Exaltation). Thinking of the entrance to Eternal Life as a literal eye of a threading needle would make it impossible to live with
God, whereas, understanding the real meaning makes us realize that it is possible and attainable for us to live with our Heavenly Father (we just need to do our part)! So Cool! This was one of the great lessons Kim taught (she explained and gave a much better lesson, this is just my condensed version).
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2003/02/words-of-jesus-riches?lang=eng
I never quite understood the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20: 1-16)
and to be truthful it kind of made me mad - I mean really? . . . was it truly fair for the
last workers to get paid the same amount of money (as the workers who labored all day)
when they had only put in an hours worth of work? Well, after Kim's fantastic lesson I
learned that YES, it is fair because as we learned these simple details it makes total sense!
and to be truthful it kind of made me mad - I mean really? . . . was it truly fair for the
last workers to get paid the same amount of money (as the workers who labored all day)
when they had only put in an hours worth of work? Well, after Kim's fantastic lesson I
learned that YES, it is fair because as we learned these simple details it makes total sense!
Landowner - Represents Christ
Vineyard - Membership in the Church
Laborers - Christians
End of Day - Judgment
Reward - Eternal Salvation
If Christ (the Landowner) offers us membership in His Church (the Vineyard) and we accept it and take upon us His name to be Christians (Laborers) then at the end of our life (End of Day) we will be judged for our performance in this life and if we did all we could and lived worthily we will be able to live with God for Eternity (Reward).
We want everyone to gain Eternal Exaltation (to actually live with our Heavenly Father in His
presence throughout Eternity)! So, yes, regardless of when others join in to accept, learn and
live the Gospel, we want all to have the blessings. Those that join earlier will have the advantage
of a longer lifetime to become all that the Lord wants them to be and we should rejoice that
others will have the same opportunity when they accept the Savior and become one of his
"Workers in the Vineyard", no matter the time! Again, Kim did a much better job at explaining it!
If Christ (the Landowner) offers us membership in His Church (the Vineyard) and we accept it and take upon us His name to be Christians (Laborers) then at the end of our life (End of Day) we will be judged for our performance in this life and if we did all we could and lived worthily we will be able to live with God for Eternity (Reward).
We want everyone to gain Eternal Exaltation (to actually live with our Heavenly Father in His
presence throughout Eternity)! So, yes, regardless of when others join in to accept, learn and
live the Gospel, we want all to have the blessings. Those that join earlier will have the advantage
of a longer lifetime to become all that the Lord wants them to be and we should rejoice that
others will have the same opportunity when they accept the Savior and become one of his
"Workers in the Vineyard", no matter the time! Again, Kim did a much better job at explaining it!
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland puts it so eloquently when he offered these additional lessons from this parable of the laborers: “… His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there. ... So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time” (“The Laborers in the Vineyard,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 32–33).
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/05/the-laborers-in-the-vineyard.p1?lang=eng
Kim and her wonderful Seminary kids!
Kim and her wonderful Seminary kids!
