If I were to ask someone on the street today "who do you serve?" I might get some negative reactions. Most people don't like the idea of being in 'service' to anyone. The funny thing is, we are all serving someone...or something.
In Joshua's final days as the leader of Israel, he exhorts them to be courageous. He implored them to keep the commandments. He told them to love the Lord. And he said to them "Fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve....but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
I remember hearing in a religion class once, that if you are not choosing God, then you are automatically choosing the devil. That always seemed a bit extreme. But if we were to really dissect things and take a closer look, I think I can see how that would be. In Moroni chapter 7 verse 12 we read: "Wherefore, all things which are agood cometh of God; and that which is bevil cometh of the devil."
Just because something is of God or good doesn't mean that it has to be religious. A beautiful symphony is 'good.' A VanGogh painting is 'good.' Even football is 'good.' It is when we choose to serve these things in an unrighteous manner that we begin to cross the line and perhaps serve someone other than God. For example, over-extending personal finances in order to purchase an original VanGogh, when it is much out of our budget. Or going to a football game on a Sunday afternoon instead of honoring the Sabbath day and keeping it holy.
Serving doesn't have to mean that we are dressed in a maid outfit and carrying a silver tray for someone all the time. Serving the Lord simply means that you are striving to be obedient to Him. Serving Him can mean showing kindness to those around you. Serving Him can mean attending your church meetings. Serving Him can mean studying your scriptures each day. There are many ways to serve the Lord.
I made the choice to serve Him when I was eight years old and baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I work at that choice each day, and the older I get, the more I realize the significance of that choice and thrill with the knowledge of the blessings that are available to me if I continue to strive to serve.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
I'm Mormon and I Show it
"Mormons are weird."
"My friend is Mormon, and she can't do anything fun."
"I don't know how Mormons do it with all those kids and no coffee!"
Ok, I have never actually heard that last one, but I'm sure someone, somewhere has said it! I have heard the other two though. I will admit, some of us are weird, but I can guarantee that we have plenty of fun!
I will concede that we are different. We don't drink alcohol. We don't use tobacco or drugs. We refrain from premarital sexual relations. We are modest with our bodies, language and actions. And we spend roughly one-tenth of our weekend waking hours at church.
The list could probably go from there, but that's a good place to start. Doing those things (or not doing those things) certainly sets us apart from the crowd here on earth. It opens up a wide variety of joke material for Saturday Night Live comedians. It is not easy to do in the world we live in. So....why do we do it?
In the Old Testament, there were people--male or female--known as Nazarites. These were people who took a voluntary vow to separate his life for the service of the Lord, or to live consecrated to Him. Sometimes this vow was for their entire life, sometimes only for a determined amount of time. In order to be a bona fide Nazarite, there were three main vows that you lived by:
1. You did not drink wine. Not even vinegars or other drinks made from the fruit of the vine. Nor did you eat the fruit of the vine.
2. You did not cut the hair on your head for the duration of your devotion.
3. You did not go near a deceased person, even if that person was a family member.
Now, reading those rules, I would say that sounds a little bit strange. Maybe a little bit strange like a Mormon man in an early morning carpool refusing that cup of coffee on a cold morning because he does not drink coffee. Or a young woman who wears a prom dress with a cardigan over it to maintain her modesty. Or that young couple that does not live together or do anything more than kiss until they are married.
We are encouraged from an early age to "be in the world, but not of the world." The Nazarites led their peculiar life because they were "separating themselves from the world" to be in service to the Lord. We separate ourselves that same way. We choose, at baptism, to life a life following the Lord. We decide that we will be different from the world by the way we behave and the activities in which we do or do not participate.
We do this, because we know that the Lord will bless us for following Him. I like when it is explained as "an outward expression of an inward devotion." We are devoted to the Lord, and we are not afraid to show it.
I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it. (Anne M. Dibb)
"My friend is Mormon, and she can't do anything fun."
"I don't know how Mormons do it with all those kids and no coffee!"
Ok, I have never actually heard that last one, but I'm sure someone, somewhere has said it! I have heard the other two though. I will admit, some of us are weird, but I can guarantee that we have plenty of fun!
I will concede that we are different. We don't drink alcohol. We don't use tobacco or drugs. We refrain from premarital sexual relations. We are modest with our bodies, language and actions. And we spend roughly one-tenth of our weekend waking hours at church.
The list could probably go from there, but that's a good place to start. Doing those things (or not doing those things) certainly sets us apart from the crowd here on earth. It opens up a wide variety of joke material for Saturday Night Live comedians. It is not easy to do in the world we live in. So....why do we do it?
In the Old Testament, there were people--male or female--known as Nazarites. These were people who took a voluntary vow to separate his life for the service of the Lord, or to live consecrated to Him. Sometimes this vow was for their entire life, sometimes only for a determined amount of time. In order to be a bona fide Nazarite, there were three main vows that you lived by:
1. You did not drink wine. Not even vinegars or other drinks made from the fruit of the vine. Nor did you eat the fruit of the vine.
2. You did not cut the hair on your head for the duration of your devotion.
3. You did not go near a deceased person, even if that person was a family member.
Now, reading those rules, I would say that sounds a little bit strange. Maybe a little bit strange like a Mormon man in an early morning carpool refusing that cup of coffee on a cold morning because he does not drink coffee. Or a young woman who wears a prom dress with a cardigan over it to maintain her modesty. Or that young couple that does not live together or do anything more than kiss until they are married.
We are encouraged from an early age to "be in the world, but not of the world." The Nazarites led their peculiar life because they were "separating themselves from the world" to be in service to the Lord. We separate ourselves that same way. We choose, at baptism, to life a life following the Lord. We decide that we will be different from the world by the way we behave and the activities in which we do or do not participate.
We do this, because we know that the Lord will bless us for following Him. I like when it is explained as "an outward expression of an inward devotion." We are devoted to the Lord, and we are not afraid to show it.
I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it. (Anne M. Dibb)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)