While studying the Book of Revelation for my Primary class lesson this morning, several things stood out to me:
- Rev. 3: 15-16, The Lord wants us to make conscious choices. The verses read, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” We can’t stand still in life. That is not growth. We have to try, even if we fall short or make a bad decision, it is better than making none at all.
- Rev. 3: 17-18, The Lord counsels us to buy of Him gold “tried in the fire” that we may be rich. He references the riches of the people and how they need of nothing because of it, which causes the Lord to identify them as “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” He then later says that if we do that (buy of Him gold) that the “shame of thy nakedness” won’t appear. It occurred to me that this was a reference of Adam and Eve finding themselves naked in the garden of Eden and wanting to hide because of it and the shame associated with it. Heavenly Father wants us to use our time and energies to make gains spiritually. Being naked, as referenced in the scriptures, is not meant as naked in the physical sense. It is spiritually naked – standing before God spiritually naked and feeling the shame of knowing that we spent our time and efforts in our mortal lives (our trial time) chasing things of the world, none of which we take with us after we die, hence being naked before the Lord. When we spend our time and energy and focus on worldly things, we end up alone and naked and feeling shameful before the Lord. He promises in these verses of Revelation that we won’t feel shame or naked when standing before Him if our works have been for Him, if we have bought gold of Him. There are so many ways to make this happen in our lives, service, study etc. I am going to let you decide what those ways are and can be for yourselves.
- So, So, So, So many times does the book of Revelation say “He that hath an ear, let him hear …” One of the lesson options for the primary is about Jesus standing at the door, knocking, that doesn’t have a doorknob. I plan to discuss with them ways that He is knocking in our lives and things we can do to let Him in. This scripture reference “He that hath an ear …” beautifully identifies one way that He is knocking. If we want to hear and choose it, and the Spirit agrees with our choice, we will hear him and learn (through the Spirit) what He is saying at that given time. We will let Him in.
- Another repeated phrase throughout this book is “I know thy works.” This is told to the different people the Lord is having John address, but it reminds me that He knows us all. That He sees our lives and knows our hearts and He loves us and wants the best for us and is thus willing to guide us.
I am so grateful for the scriptures! I am so grateful and reverenced for the sacrifices that have been made in preserving them. I learn so much from them and love them and love my Heavenly Father for being aware of me and my life.
