New Beginnings (both for me and the Children of Israel)
Dear Friends and Family,
Because of the shutdown caused by the Covid pandemic, I have sent emails almost every Sunday to members of the Mountain Point 4th ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and family members for the past two years. The messages are based on the Come Follow Me curriculum of the church but are my thoughts and opinions and not official church doctrine. Now that things are back to normal, I have decided to discontinue sending these messages through the church email system.
From now on, the messages will appear at www.startthinking.net.
I am new to blogging, so you will have to bear with me as I work out the kinks. Please don’t hesitate to contact me by whatever means you have at your disposal with comments and suggestions. Your feedback is most welcome.
The positive response I have received over the past couple of years has been gratefully accepted. I am blessed to have this opportunity and will continue to write regularly.
Bishop Christensen and I discussed the way to switch away from using the church email system and decided to send the messages for a couple of weeks so that I will send this and one final email next week. So, my exodus begins.
Over the past couple of weeks, our reading has covered one of the most repeated stories of all time. A beloved yet cheesy movie has been made about it, with images and phrases that have been seared into our memories. The ten plagues and the many miracles, including the parting of the Red Sea, are well known. Celebrating Passover is one tradition with which non-Jews are most familiar. So, I won’t get into the details here.
If you think about the drastic nature and resulting suffering caused by the plagues and uprooting millions of people after a 430-year settlement, why did all of this happen?
One phrase Moses and Aaron repeated to Pharoah many times was, “let my people go, that they may serve me.” Earlier, Abraham had entered into a covenant with God that affected the generations to come. The covenant includes serving God, and in turn, God would give his people a promised land along with the blessings of salvation. That was not happening in Egypt, and we know that God keeps promises.
We also need to be aware that covenants are two-way promises. One of the themes of many recent general conferences has been making and keeping covenants. Covenants, when taken seriously, have the power to change our lives. If we do not change, we will die spiritually and fail to meet our full potential. This stagnation is what was happening with the children of Israel in Egypt. They needed to be able to do their part in being a covenant people, and they needed a new beginning.
In our lead-up to Easter, let us consider ways that we can begin again and serve God with more purpose. In turn, God will bless and sustain us in whatever personal wilderness we may be wandering.
Love,
Ken Law