An Acceptable offering

The story of the widow's might, as it is called, has always been especially meaningful to me, as I come from a "pay check to pay check" family. In fact, my whole family is inactive, in part, because of money. After we joined the church in 1998 my parents went to the Church for financial assistance. This became a habit as my parents refused to be accountable for the lifestyle. The church eventually withheld assistance, so my parents became offended and left the fellowship of the church. What a stark contrast to the Widow of this story.

The Widows offering was so amazing because she gave everything; she gave her all. She showed that she loved the Lord with all her heart and with all her faith, as she was commanded to. Her sacrifice was more substantial than that of the pharisees because it reflected her willingness to sacrifice all she had to follow the Savior. The Scribes and Pharisees only sacrificed what was convenient. This underscores that their intentions were disingenuous at best. They were only at the treasury to be seen of others. Outwardly they were seemingly magnanimous, but inwardly they were blatantly avaricious.

This story denotes what the Lord considers as an acceptable offering. The Lord doesn't want our money, he wants our faith. He wants all of our faith and not that which is merely convenient. The amount the widow gave was only equal to what we would pay for a loaf of bread, but it was EVERYTHING she had. This Widow understood that if she gave everything the Lord would provide those things that she needed.  This story isn't about paying tithing. This story is trying to teach us the correct manner of sacrifice. Just as the Saviors offering to mankind was complete and infinite, so too must our sacrifice be toward God, complete. Had the Saviors sacrifice been half way we would have been consigned to an "endless torment." Thanks be to God that he sent us his son to show us how to provide an acceptable offering.

Fair is what you pay on a bus

I have four brothers. I feel that saying we caused a lot of trouble is redundant. It was uncommon that when one of us did something wrong we all lost the same privilege for a time. When this happened I would always say to my parents, "thats not fair !" To this my dad would always vehemently respond "fair is what you pay on a bus!" Words will never adequately describe how much I hated when he said that. 

This nostalgic phrase crashes into my memory as I consider the parable of the laborers in Matthew 20. In this parable read about those who don't understand the role they play in Gods Kingdom. The greatest lesson we learn from this parable is that it is not important how long an individual works in the Lord's vineyard, its important that they worked. This idea teaches us that God is a just God, and he judges each of us relative to the knowledge and opportunities we had in this life. Certainly some of us worked longer longer than others but to esteem ourselves above those who worked for a lesser time is to misunderstand God's plan for his children. Christ himself said, the first shall be the last, and the last shall be first. 

The fact that the laborers who worked all day felt that they should be compensated at a higher rate than those who had only worked for half the day or only an hour. The master responds to these murmurings, in effect, "fair is what you pay on a bus." As the Lords servants we don't get to decide what is or is not fair. Our role is to faithfully fulfill the covenant that we made with God at Baptism. We are incapable to determine the just reward of those around us. 

As I further consider this parable I note that each laborer received a penny for their labor. This illustrates the idea that we are all working toward the same goal that is of equal worth. We are all striving to return to the presence of the Father in the Celestial Kingdom. This idea eliminates any competition that may exist amongst the saints. 

While I continue to do my best work within the Lords vineyard I will always remain grateful that I was called early in the day perform this labor.  I know this will never make me better than those who were called later in life, and I know that this labor has and will continue bring me close to my God. 

The Price We all must pay

I think most of us all have an idea of what we need to give up to be a better a disciple of Jesus Christ. There seems to always be something we could be doing more or less of to follow the Savior in a more substantive way.
The word "disciple" implies that we embrace the teachings of Jesus Christ and assists in spreading those teachings. I have considered many times the qualities that are necessary to be considered a true disciple of Jesus Christ based off the teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament.

I feel that a disciple of Jesus Christ recognizes and prioritizes that which is most important,
I feel that a disciple of Jesus Christ is willing to sacrifice his time and comfort to assist those that are within his circle of influence.
I feel that a disciple of Jesus Christ is disciplined enough to ignore insidious distractions and put God's work ahead of his or her worldly desires.
I feel that a disciple of Jesus Christ is strictly obedient to the commandments he or she has covenanted to keep.
I feel that a disciple of Jesus Christ is faithful enough to forsake everything he has to know Christ.


Certainly this is not all that is required to be a true disciple, but it is a start. As I consider the above list I consider that requirement that has been imposed upon us to forsake all. I question whether or not I have the faith. Perhaps ill never know until I'm put into the position to sacrifice those things that are dearest to me. However, I don't know what they future holds, but I don't think the Lord will ask us many of us to sacrifice our lives or the lives of our loved ones. Elder M. Russell Ballard explained, The Lord isn’t asking us to load up a handcart; He’s asking us to fortify our faith. He isn’t asking us to walk across a continent; He’s asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn’t asking us to give all of our worldly possessions to build a temple; He’s asking us to give of our means and our time despite the pressures of modern living to continue to build temples and then to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn’t asking us to die a martyr’s death; He’s asking us to live a disciple’s life.


I feel at this point of my life God needs me to sacrifice my time, my sins, and my means. I know that I don;t sacrifice neatly enough of time serving or attending the temple. If I have learned one thing in my short time on this Earth it is that as we serve of our fellow man we begin to see them as Christ sees them, and, as a result, we understand how he understands, we judge how we judges, and we become even as he is. 


As I consider the principle of sacrifice I reflect on the story of the young rich man who walked grieving because of his unwillingness to give up all that he had. I hope that I will never have to know how that young man felt. 

The Million Dollar question was never answered by the ten cent prayer.

Based off the title of this blog it might seem like I'm going to talk about prayer, but you would be wrong. I wanna discuss the principle behind this statement. I wanna talk about the price that we need to pay in order to gain access to God's power, specifically the power of his Priesthood. In the 17th chapter of Matthew we read about about a man and his afflicted child. Apparently this man's child was afflicted with some sort of devil. He approached the Apostles requesting that they heal the boy, and, based off his conversation with the Master, the Apostles were unable to heal the boy. The Apostles were confused by inability to do so and they inquired of the Savior as to why the were unable. With seeming indignation, the Savior tells his Apostles that they lacked faith, and that they only way they were going to be able to access God's power to heal was through prayer and fasting.

I can recall times in my life where I have neglected to do all that I can to access God's power. I think I have assumed that just because I have the authority to use the Priesthood that I can simply put my hands on someones head and perform a miracle. At times, I neglect to fast and pray, thereby showing my Heavenly Father that I truly want to work miracles. I think, at times, I am too casual about holding the Priesthood. Certainly these miracles can only occur when they coincide with the will of our Heavenly father, and when those participating have a sufficient amount of faith. I think that faith isn't solely demonstrated during the few minutes of a blessing. Faith is demonstrated as we attempt to utilize every available means we have to solve our own problems. We seek the counsel of others, consult physicians, prayer without ceasing, fast, and prove to God that we want to be healed because "we are saved by Grace after all that we can do."

I am so grateful to live in a time where we have so much access to information. I am so grateful to live in a time where we have so many resources to solve our own problems. I am also so grateful to know that when after I have tried all that I can our God has ordained servants to administer to us to comforts, counsel, and heal us of our afflictions. As you and I consider the process by which God heal us, I hope we will never think that it is a passive process, but one in which we must use our agency to act, and not be acted upon.

Learning to FAll

  I have always thought it was humorous that whenever angels appear or miracles occur those involved seem to respond with fear. The Savior's miraculous experience of walking on the stormy sea of Galilee is no exception to this this rule. I can only imagine the fear that the Apostles must of been overcome with as those tumultuous waves beat against their vessel. I'm sure the miracle that they just witnessed of Christ feeding the 5,000 was far removed from their minds at this point. I'm sure seeing the Savior walk on water was something could hardly believe or expect either, however, Peter didn't seem to be so doubtful of the Savior's ability to do perform such a feat. In fact Peter was so sure of the Saviors power that  he knew that same could faith could allow him to follow the Savior even in the most unlikely fashion. It was Peters great faith that set him apart from the rest of the 12. It was his faith that enabled him to ignore all the chaos and focus on following the Savior. Indeed, is it not during the times distraction and chaos within in our own lives that detract us from following Christ.

It required great faith for Peter to even petition the Savior to come off the ship, but how much more faith did it require him to place the first  foot onto the boisterous surface of the sea. Certainly this instance is where Peter's faith was pushed to beyond his capacity. As Peter took those first steps he became distracted by the crashing waves and the chaos about him. As a result, his focus shifted from the Savior to the chaos, and he fell. This fall, however, further emphasizes Peters faith and understanding of the Saviors power, for he knew that his master was the only one who could save him. He didn't foolishly rely on his own ability, but on the power of Him. The Savior responded to Peter immediately just as he will respond to you or I immediately if we allow him to.

As we enter the waters of Baptism we make an oath to follow the Savior in every aspect of our lives. It is easy to so when life is convenient. True faith is displayed when we our able to follow the Savior despite the distractions that the adversary throws at us. In a very real way God is our father. He loves us, respects us, and wants us to overcome the adversity we face. Just like a parent is filled with joy when they see their child take its first steps so is our Heavenly Father filled with joy with every step we take in attempt to follow the Savior, even if we fall down along the way, I know God is thrilled that we were willing to take those steps. I'm sure his joy when, following that fall, we reach out to Him to pick us back up. I'm sure the Savior was filled with joy when He saw his beloved Peter take this first steps toward him.