Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read the sorrowful prayer of Jeremiah regarding the sad state of Zion which was brought about by their sins, bringing the wrath of God upon them. Lam. 5: 1-22 "Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us."

In the D&C we read that the Lord will give us blessings that are above all things, but if we don't keep the commandments, we cannot be saved. It should be a no brainer to keep the commandments! D&C 18: 45-46 "Wherefore, the blessings which I give unto you are above all things. And after that you have received this, if you keep not my commandments you cannot be saved in the kingdom of my Father."

Some verses with a thought booklet help us place our priorities in the right place. It is foolish to place our hearts on the riches of the world which are not of any lasting eternal value. What good does it do us if we accumulate so much of this world's goods that we need to build storage facilities to hold them all, when our lives could be taken from us tonight and we could not take any of those things with us? Instead of worrying about worldly riches, we need to trust in the Lord that He will take care of our basic needs if we seek first the Kingdom of God. It's foolish to place our security in our wealth, or in anything other than God. If we're not rich toward God, we possess the worst kind of poverty. Luke 12: 16-21, 29-34 "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."