Study Diligently

   Our beloved prophet, President Thomas Spencer Monson, has promised us safety through our mortal journey as we heed to his counsel. He has offered three suggestions, when we earnestly apply them to our lives, that will help us through life's storms. They are:

1. Study diligently.

2. Pray fervently.

3. Live righteously.

  As I make my next three blog posts, I plan to write about each suggestion and the importance of them. Today I choose to focus on the counsel to "study diligently."

   Every prophet, in this dispensation particularly, has repeatedly counseled us to diligently study the scriptures. First we must ask ourselves, "What is scripture?" We learn in the Doctrine and Covenants that when men with authority, inspired of God, write or speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, their words “shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation” (D&C 68:4). The official scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often referred to as the standard works, are the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.

  What is it that makes scripture study so important anyway? It is interesting to me that scriptures are compared to food. Nephi taught us that we must "feast upon the words of Christ" (2 Nephi. 32:3) Elder L. Tom Perry sates, "Just as we need temporal food to maintain our health and strength, so also do we need spiritual food, as President McKay has suggested, to keep us spiritually healthy and strong."

  The scriptures testify of Jesus Christ - namely, the Book of Mormon and the Bible. With that being said, Nephi promised us that “the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3). The sons of Mosiah were given great spiritual power because they had "searched the scriptures diligently" (Alma 17:2). We are promised that a wounded soul will be healed by the "word of God" (Jacob 2:8) The book of Alma says that the word of God “had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else” (Alma 31:5). How incredible are those promises! They are promises not only for the sons of Mosiah. They are promises that aren't limited to Jacob, or Nephi, or Alma. They apply directly to us in our day! Elder Perry said, "Do we look to the scriptures as a source of great spiritual power? If not, we are missing a wonderful opportunity for spiritual nourishment and strength."

It is absolutely vital  for our spiritual AND temporal well-being that we make a daily habit of scripture study. Merely reading scriptures is not enough, we must "feast upon" the scriptures and "treasure up in our minds continually" the words of Christ! President Monson has said that "crash courses are not nearly so effective as the day-to-day reading and application of the scriptures in our lives." Nephi counseled us to liken the scriptures to ourselves. In other words, we must apply them to our lives. President Monson says to "study them as though they were speaking to you, for such is the truth."

 Our current Prophet of God promises us that if [we] will study the scriptures diligently, [our] power to avoid temptation and to receive direction of the Holy Ghost in all [we] do will be increased.