Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read Enos' soul hungered and he knelt down to pray. He prayed mightily, seeking forgiveness for his sins. He prayed all day and into the night.  How long is the longest you have ever prayed?  I cannot imagine praying all day and all night.  One time I decided I was going to pray for an entire hour.  I prayed for everybody and everything I could think about and then looked at my watch.  I think about 15 minutes had gone by.  I've got a long way to go to be able to  commune with the Lord all day long!But Enos persisted and he was able to hear a voice from the Lord telling him that his sins were forgiven him. Enos knew that God could not lie so his guilt was swept away.  What a wonderful blessing!  Do we trust in God enough to know that after we truly repent, we really are forgiven and we don't need to feel guilty anymore?   Enos 1: 4-6 "And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.  And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.  And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away."

In the Old Testament we read that Hezekiah began to reign in righteousness.  He restored worship of the Lord, and pointed out that the calamities which had befallen his fathers was because of their wickedness.  2 Chronicles 29:1-11 "Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.  And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.  And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,  And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.  For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.  Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.  For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.  Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.  My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us that blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.  It is bitterly painful to say goodbye to a loved one who dies.  And we miss them for the rest of our lives.  But Jesus died and was resurrected and conquered death for us all.  Because He triumphed over death, we can know that the pain of separation from our loved ones is not final.  They will rise again.  And so will we.  What a comfort it is to know that the sting of death is swallowed up in the victory of Jesus Christ.  Matthew 5: 4 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."