I have a three year old and a two year old who don't much love to pay attention to what I say. Unless they are prefaced with "do you want a treat" or some other display of bribery or extreme threat, my words do not have much impact on my children. Oh my, it is frustrating! I often find myself telling them that "What I say matters!" They don't yet much think it does, but it does. I love them. I want them to be happy. I want them to learn wonderful things. I want them to have fun. I want them to be well-adjusted. I want them to be kind. I want them to be obedient. I want them to be responsible. I want for my kids the things that most parents want for them. I try to teach them and to guide them to these ends, but my words fall on uninterested ears. But truly, what I say to them does matter. If they would listen and obey, they would be so much the better for it. If they would listen to and do the things I tell them, they would realize that the daily life I'd love to provide for them would, in and of itself, be bribe enough! But they don't, and so instead of doing fun, interesting, and exciting things, we instead spend much of our time trying to just break even at the end of the day. (Yes, I know there are all sorts of posts out there about disciplining kids and getting them to listen...we're trying, but not there!) So, as I say over and over again that "what I say matters," I am reminded that just as what I say matters to my kids, what my Heavenly Father says matters to me. I need to be listening and doing.
Today I read 1 Nephi 3:18 in The Book of Mormon, and my heart caught on this part of the verse:
"Wherefore, if my father should dwell in the land after he hath been commanded to flee out of the land, behold, he would also perish."
To put things in context, the sons of Lehi have returned to Jerusalem to obtain their family's genealogy (written on brass plates) from Laban, and Laban has shut them down. They decided to try again, this time offering to purchase the brass plates with the gold, silver, and other valuable things Lehi had left in his Jerusalem home when he fled into the wilderness. In verses 16-18, Nephi is explaining that the Lord had commanded Lehi to leave Jerusalem because Jerusalem was going to be destroyed.
So, back to verse 18. It turns out that what the Lord told Lehi mattered. It had real consequences attached to it: obey God's word and obtain the Promised Land, or ignore God's word and perish. Pretty serious business. Good thing Lehi obeyed. While it doesn't always seem like the promptings that we get from the Lord through the Holy Ghost are as significant as the commandment Lehi got to flee Jerusalem, or that the consequences of obedience or lack thereof are as serious, but at the end of the day, big or small, loud or soft, what God says matters. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to have fun. He wants us to be successful. He wants for us all the things - and more - that I want for my children. Oh, how I hope I will respond to him how I strive to have my children respond to me, because what He says matters so much!
(In defense of my children, they are wonderful children. They are just two and three and strong-willed and independent on top of that...I've got to cut them some slack, but keep working with them...)
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