It’s absolutely miraculous that we have the scriptures and that they have been preserved and passed down to us for generations. In fact, this may be one of the greatest miracles of all time. I was recently at our state capital, touring the 100’s of years of preserved beauty. I stood in awe of the hours of dedicated time it took many artists to carve intricate details into the marble, stone, and wood. Over the years, there has been constant work to keep these masterpieces clean and preserved. Today we can enjoy the awesomeness as if we were there 200 years ago. 

We went to the library where they have a temperature/ moisture controlled room to preserve old books. No one may enter who is not trained and whose hands are not properly covered. These books are so old, they could fall apart if not perfectly cared for.  

The combination of these two got me thinking about the miracle of our scriptures. They are not 100 or 200 years old ….but thousands. The time it took our earliest ancestors to carve each symbol into metal so that we could know the things that the Lord wanted us to know.

Is absolutely amazing. Then all those whom the Lord entrusted with them…took immaculate life rendering care of them. They were their most valued possession. They risked all, including their lives to keep and protect the scriptures.

Alma 37:1 And now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the records which have been entrusted with me;

2 And I also command you that ye keep a record of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a wise purpose that they are kept.

3 And these plates of brass, which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the genealogy of our forefathers, even from the beginning–

4 Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and handed down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the mysteries contained thereon.

5 And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ.

Now the scriptures are readily available. We can buy them in bulk. We can hand them out to all we know. So why is it important to teach us about the preservation of the scriptures. There’s 531 pages in the Book of Mormon and I believe every word is important.  

As I read these 5 verses, I feel a great call from our Heavenly Father to preserve the scriptures. We must read them daily, alone, and with our families. We need to know the stories, feel the power, and practice the teachings. In our day, the preservation is internal. We need to engrave them on our hearts, and pass those engravings down to our posterity through our teachings and our examples. As we follow the Lord with exactness and as we read, ponder, and apply the scriptures to our lives we will be “retaining their brightness!” It will radiate through our lives and into our children and grand children, great grand children and down through our genealogy lines. We will be able to look back and see brightness for generations…into the eternities. 

Alma 37: 6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

The BIG picture of the millions that our decisions and actions affect can be mind boggling! It’s true though….reading the scriptures daily may seem like an insignificantly tiny thing to do. It’s easy to seek after something BIG and profound. Yet, BiG comes from all those small, daily moments. I think back through my genealogy lines. My ancestors crossed the plains. The pioneer stories are inspiring and miraculous. However, those BIG stories were created by daily acts of faith. The trek West was made passable by one step at a time, one day, one meal….they just kept going…kept following the Lord…one day at a time. Our BIG story will be compiled of small daily acts….one at a time. Eternity is one day at a time. Everything BIG is accumulation of the ones. 

“It is day by day that we work out our plans for the future; it is day by day that we achieve our goals. It is one day at a time that we raise and nurture our families. It is one day at a time that we overcome imperfections. We endure in faith to the end one day at a time. It is the accumulation of many days well-lived that adds up to a full life and a saintly person.” -Elder D. Todd Christofferson (Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread)

Alma 37: 8 And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.

9 Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.

10 And who knoweth but what they will be the means of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our stiffnecked brethren, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer?

That’s the BIG picture my friends. As we read the scriptures, and preserve them in our hearts and lives we will be convinced of the truthfulness of their writings and stories, our children will come to know of the truth they contain, and we will have the spirit with us to be able to share with others…even with the most “stiff necked” people. The scriptures don’t need a sales pitch….they just need to be read with prayer and a sincere heart…they convince themselves…for they are truly the words of the Lord…preserved for us! It is up to us to maintain their brightness in our lives and those who we know and meet. 

Alma 37:12 And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth counsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.

Don’t worry if you are unsure of the big picture. That’s not our job! We just have to trust God that he has a full purpose and that he will lead us to fulfill it. He is all knowing, all loving, and all prepared. 

I stand in awe at the faithfulness of our ancient ancestors who acted on the things the Lord asked them to do. Just to name a few…Nephi’s willingness to separate his writings to fit the purpose of the Lord. (It will be a great experience to get to read the “other” plates someday) 🙂 Mormon’s obedience to compile the Book of Mormon in the order and with the content that the Lord asked him to. Moroni’s faithfulness to stay strong, and remain alone…so he could hide and preserve the plates for our day. There are many more sacrifices made by God loving, God fearing individuals who didn’t know us, yet trusted the Lord. 

We too are asked to sacrifice for the purpose of the Lord. There’s great work to be done…and we MUST do it. It WILL BE accomplished, whether we choose to participate or not. There are faithful, obedient people willing to do the Lord’s work…His way. Why not be one of them? This is the most exciting time in the history of mankind…we have an opportunity to be a part of something BIGGER than our comprehension. 

Alma 37:13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. And he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land–but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.

14 And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.

The Lord trusts us! 

He trusts us to do our part. 

He has preserved these sacred records to assists us in teaching us the example of others who have followed him. They show us what we need to do to stay strong and they provide us with strength to keep the Holy Ghost as our constant companionship. 

We want to be on the Lord’s side, for we know that He ultimately wins. * He actually is ALWAYS Winning…Satan just likes to boast and advertise! 🙂

*Might  want to pay attention to these two promises

Alma 37:15 And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.

16 But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can take them from you, for God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words.

I have found that our Heavenly Fathers’s Love is never ending, he isn’t the one that pushes us away….we turn away! When we turn away from our source of light and direction, we are left to the unknown…or better known as the devil and his team. It’s amazing how quickly one becomes lost when the light is gone. Absence of light in the literal world is hard to understand unless in a cave. There is light all around us. Spiritual darkness is a real thing, as we walk away from the Lord we are soon lost without any spiritual sight to see where we are going. The adversary takes full advantage and will lead us down dark gloomy paths that seem impossible to escape from. 

The opposite promise here is amazing. One we should print in our minds to remind us …If we keep the commandments and follow Christ…nothing can take our knowledge, Strength, faith from us. Which to me means…as we grow closer to Christ …Satan loses his power over us. Wow!! Wow!! Wow!! 

I’m always amazed that with this understanding we can still allow Satan to tempt us. Don’t worry…your not alone. It is reassuring though…that as we move closer to God we move further away from Satan….ONE DAY AT A TIME! The distance increases one step at a time! We just need to do a little better each day. 

“If today you are a little better than you were yesterday, then that’s enough.” – David A. Bednar

“When we understand the character of God, and know how to come to Him, he begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it. When we are ready to come to Him, He is ready to come to us.” – Joseph Smith 

Alma 37:17 For he will fulfil all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

Need I say more! 🙂 

Here’s a few more scripture promises that I love…. Let’s preserve these miraculous sacred records for our children, grand children, great grand children, great great grand children…. 

I promise you that if you will prayerfully read the Book of Mormon, regardless of how many times you previously have read it, there will come into your hearts an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments, and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God. -Gordon B. Hinckley

“I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. … The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity–the pure love of Christ–will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness.” – Marion G. Romney

As we read the Book of Mormon and the other standard works, as we put the teachings to the test, then we will know of the doctrine, for this is our promise; we will know whether it be of man or whether it be of God. -Thomas S. Monson

If you read the Book of Mormon and ask in fervent prayer if the promise found in Moroni is true, you will know the truth through the power of the Holy Ghost. – Moroni 10:4-5

-Sherri Jorgensen