Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read that the king of Babylon made his Uncle Mattaniah king and chantged his name to Zedekiah. He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and rebelled against the king of Babylon. 2 Kgs. 24: 17-20 "And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon."

In the D&C I read about how James Covill received the word of God with gladness and covenanted that he would obey the commandments, but then the fear of persecution, the cares of the world, and the temptations of the devil caused him to reject the word and break his covenants. It is important that we not only receive the word of God, but that we endure to the end and remain faithful. D&C 40: 1-3 "Behold, verily I say unto you, that the heart of my servant James Covill was right before me, for he covenanted with me that he would obey my word. And he received the word with gladness, but straightway Satan tempted him; and the fear of persecution and the cares of the world caused him to reject the word. Wherefore he broke my covenant, and it remaineth with me to do with him as seemeth me good. Amen."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us that Christ, out of His poverty, brought us eternal riches. It was a sacrifice for Him to do what He did for us and did not come without cost to Him. We need to follow His example when we serve others. It isn't enough to do random acts of kindness when it's convenient for us or when it's easy. Sometimes we're called upon to act at times when it doesn't fit into our schedule or we have other things we'd rather be doing. To become more like Jesus, we need to be willing to care for the people God sends into our lives even when it costs us. 2 Cor. 8: 9 "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."

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