Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read the allegory of the lioness and the whelps. The Institute manual tells about it as follows: The interpretation of this allegory seems fairly clear. The lioness, if not the doomed country (Judah), is Hamutal, the mother of Zedekiah. The first of her whelps would then be Jehoahaz, who after reigning for a short time was taken prisoner to Egypt by Pharaoh-hechoh. Jehoahaz was in turn suceeded by Jekoiakim, a son of Josiah by a wife other than Hamutal. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his soj Jehoiachin. When the last-named was taken captice by the Babylonians, Hamutal's second son, Zedekiah, was appointed king i his stead. He must therefore be the other "whelp" of the allegory. When taken captive by Nebuchadrezzar and carried to Babylon, Zedekiah fulfilled the requirements of the last two verses. Ezek. 19: 1-9 "Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men. The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men. And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel."

In the D&C I read that we need to purge out iniquity from among us and sanctify yourself. D&C 43: 11 "Purge ye out the iniquity which is among you; sanctify yourselves before me;"

A verse with a thought booklet reminds us that Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost. If we're feeling lost, we can know that Jesus is seeking after us and wants to save us. And if we see others who are lost, we need to remember that they are beloved children of God and they are valuable to Him. He came to seek after them and save them. We need to do our part to help them as well. Luke 19: 10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."