Saturday, January 18, 2014

Angelic Encouragement for Sharing the Gospel of Peace


And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.  (1 Nephi 13:37)
These words were spoken by the angel to Nephi during his vision of the tree of life and the history of the world.  They were given right about the time Nephi saw the Book of Mormon come forth, but I think these words, especially those about publishing peace, apply even more widely now in this time of social media and internet communication.  They hit me really hard every time I read them, as I think about this blog I have.

publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy

The Lord needs His people to share where they find their peace and joy, to share the good news of the restoration more widely, to share what inspires them, to share the new developments that come by revelation to church leadership.

whoso shall publish peace

Not just the missionaries.  Not just apostles.  Not just church publishing companies.  Not just book authors.  Not just seminary and institute teachers.  Every one of us.  On blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, whatever..

how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be

The angel is saying this, so we know this is the Lord’s perspective of what is beautiful.  It is different from the world’s.  But that’s okay because it isn’t peace as the world gives, but only as the Lord can give. 

The blog “A Study of the Book of Mormon” offers some thoughts about what is beautiful about being on the mountains.  Climbing mountains is hard because the path is rocky, therefore statements from that perspective are more powerful because it is triumphant over difficulty.  It is also perspective that sees more. 

My thoughts are that those who publish peace are also considered beautiful by the ones who hearken to the message.  The recipients of the message feel gratitude to toward those who are so unselfish as to spend time and energy and make sacrifices to publish that message.

How blessed we are to have the tools to publish peace so widely so that anyone who is really looking can find it!  It simply boggles my mind how many opportunities we have that we didn't have a mere 15 years ago!

3 comments:

Ramona Gordy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Curls said...

This is lovely! Thank you, I always enjoy your little (and big) insights.

Have you read The Power of Everday Missionaries? It has really opened my eyes to opportunities in my life to share the gospel, and it has deepened my understanding of several scriptures, including the one here.

Michaela Stephens said...

Hi Curls, yes, I have read "The Power of Everyday Missionaries." It has made a big difference in my attitude about sharing. I'm glad you've read it too!