Sing Praises

I wanted to transfer this post to this site, because I am suprised at how much this Sunday School Lesson has changed the way I look at things. I am also suprised at how often the topic of sanctification comes up not only in the scriptures but in talks and in the writings of general authorities. Just today I was reading the Ensign article by President Eyring and He spoke about unifying our families and the scriptures he quoted talked about sanctification. Interesting. Anyway I am not sure I am any closer to my change of heart, however I am more and more aware of it. Oh and by the way I did give up Grey's Anatomy...yay me!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Not to sound preachy but.....
This is a long post and I don't want to sound preachy here, but I learned something cool today in Sunday School and wanted to write it down before I forgot I learned it. We were talking about Enos, and I have always loved the story of Enos. I loved how he remembered the things that his father taught him, that they sunk deep into his heart and that his soul hungered to be filled with the things of the spirit. I loved that he spent all day and most of the night in sincere prayer, and I have always loved the verse where he hears the voice of the Lord telling him that his sins are forgiven because of his faith in Christ. However I learned today that I have only been reading this story on the surface. I really never wondered much about Enos and what type of a man he really was before he prayed until this morning when I was reading with my kids. I was trying to give them some background and realized that I must have considered Enos a sinner, someone who needed to repent of a lot of things to have to repent all day and all night. But as I was giving background to my kids, I was taught by the Spirit that Enos actually wasn't a sinner, but that he was a righteous man, a prophet, who still felt the need to repent.Anyway it was interesting today because in Sunday school when we learned about Enos our teacher spent a good deal of time on just this point and I really liked the things I learned about Enos and it gave me a great deal to think about in my own life. Anyway the teacher confirmed my earlier prompting, that Enos was actually a good man, a prophet, who was living a very righteous life. And then she began to talk about the principle of sanctification. In the beginning of the chapter it talks about the wrestle he had before he received a remission of his sins. I learned today that phrase "remission of sins" deals actually with the process of being sanctified. Enos wasn't praying to ask forgiveness because he hurt someone's feelings, or because he told a lie or any sin of comission, he was actually praying to know that he was guiltless of all of his sins and that he was sanctified and completely clean before God of everything. In so doing he was unwilling anymore to commit sins of comission. His repentance process would leave him with no more desire to sin. For me it took the story of Enos to a whole new level.It also of course made me think of my own life. I think that sometimes I think things like, being reborn, or sanctification is reserved for prophets and apostles. In fact Elder Christopherson talked about it in conference, which after learning the true story of Enos, really intrigued me as to the process he had probably been through to prepare him to be an Apostle. Anyway back to me. Anyway it just hit me today that sanctification is a gift to all of us, through the Atonement of Christ. It is a process, but it can happen just as it happened to Enos, if we are willing to sacrifice the things of the world. I liked Elder Christopherson's words, he said, "You may ask, Why doesn’t this mighty change happen more quickly with me? You should remember that the remarkable examples of King Benjamin’s people, Alma, and some others in scripture are just that—remarkable and not typical.2 For most of us, the changes are more gradual and occur over time. Being born again, unlike our physical birth, is more a process than an event. And engaging in that process is the central purpose of mortality.At the same time, let us not justify ourselves in a casual effort. Let us not be content to retain some disposition to do evil. Let us worthily partake of the sacrament each week and continue to draw upon the Holy Spirit to root out the last vestiges of impurity within us. I testify that as you continue in the path of spiritual rebirth, the atoning grace of Jesus Christ will take away your sins and the stain of those sins in you, temptations will lose their appeal, and through Christ you will become holy, as He and our Father are holy. He then closed his talk in gratitude that he had the rest of his life on earth to testify of Christ and to build the Kingdom.Anyways I know this is kind of deep for a blog, but I wanted to write it down for my own benefit. I just wondered how many blessing I'm missing out on because I am not quite ready yet to give up Grey's Anatomy. It seems pretty silly.