Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read about the many prophesies of the prophets of old testifying of the coming of Christ who would be smitten, spit upon, and finally crucified. He yielded Himself and suffered all these things, even though He was the God of their fathers who lead them out of Egypt. 1 Ne. 19: 9-10 "And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men. And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel."

In the New Testament we're told to love one another as Jesus has loved us. He laid down his life for us. No man can show greater love than that. If we want to be Jesus' friends, we will keep His commandments. John 15:12-14 "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."

Some verses with a thought booklet tell us to remember the poor. The thought that went with this, written by Ted De Haas from Bedford, Iowa, says: When we were living in northern California, one of our neighbors was a devout Mennonite farmer named Henry. He had almond and walnut orchards, and our family helped him during one harvest. We were to go through a walnut orchard with five gallon buckets and pick up the loose walnuts on the ground. As we set out on our task, Henry gave us this instruction: "Don't pick up the walnuts in the corners of the orchard. leave them on the ground." These walnuts, he explained, were to be left for anyone who would like to come and gather. Henry practiced the Old Testament practice of gleaning. He wanted to obey the Lord by caring for others. This Old Testament law is not forgotten in the New Testament. Paul wrote to the Galatians that the leaders of the church in Jerusalem had accepted him as an apostle, and the only instruction they gave him was to "continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do". Remember the poor. These three words underline the obligation that we all have to the needy. On that day in the orchard, I learned an important lesson that I have never forgotten: I need to do whatever I can to help others and to remember the poor. Leviticus 19:9-10 "And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God."
-------------------------------------