Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon I read that we need to repent and be baptized, laying aside every sin that so easily besets us. We need to come unto Christ and keep the commandments. If we do these things, we'll have eternal life. Alma 7:14-16 "Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism. And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me."

In the Old Testament I read about how Moses moved the Tabernacle of the congregation away from the camp and the Lord spoke to Moses face to face in the Tabernacle. Exodus 33:7-11 "And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us that bodily exercise is of little profit, but a godly life is valuable not only now, but also in the life to come. In order to understand this, we need to have an eternal perspective. Perhaps we look at people who exercise a great deal and are very physically fit and see the value that their exercise has been to them in keeping in shape. However, fast forward several decades and picture that person at the age or 97, if they live that long. Chances are good that they'll be in a wheelchair or walking with a walker. They may have great difficulty even walking to the bathroom, and no longer would be capable of running 10 miles like they did on a daily basis in their younger years. No matter how fit we try to remain, our bodies will still eventually decay and age, and we'll eventually die. Of what value will all our exercising be 200 years from now? However, when we nourish our spiritual lives through scripture study and prayer, the spiritual growth that results will be of benefit to us not only now, but in our eternal life as well. Whatever knowledge we gain in this life will rise with us in the resurrection. So let's keep things in perspective--excersising our physical bodies is a good thing but is of only temporary value. However, the things we do to promote our spiritual growth are of eternal value. 1 Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
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