Go and do likewise/Parable of the Great Supper

1.       Luke 10:37 “He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do likewise”. If there is one thing that I have learned this past year during all my battles, it is that I have gained empathy for others going through the same type of battle. You can’t tell people to just snap out of it. That would be great if you could just snap out of a situation. But climbing out of the dark is a process that must be done step-by-step. For me, it helped when my husband just held me and not tried to “fix it”. I can do that for others when they fight their own battles. We don’t have to worry about what to say or what to bring. It may not work for everyone but it is worth a try.

2.       Luke 10:38-42. I have always had a hard time understanding the story of Mary & Martha. Someone has to prepare the food for others. If no one prepares it, then when the time comes, do they get frowned upon because they weren’t prepared? It’s so confusing. However, I do understand that the story is telling us that listening to the Savior should take priority. It was also helpful to read that Martha went directly to the Savior when Lazarus was to be raised from the dead. This student manual points out that this story makes us think what choices we are making with our time. Are we doing good or are we wasting our time with bad things? Sometimes things are just a choice between good and best, not necessarily bad.

3.       Luke 14:12-24 The Parable of the Great Supper. This story reminded me how when I was growing up, we didn’t have the gospel in our home. We didn’t have the priesthood. I didn’t know all of this stuff. But now that I do, I don’t want to be without it. It makes me sad that some of my children walked away from the gospel and all of its blessings. They KNOW what they are missing. Even though I am active now, what excuses do I make that prevent me from fully accepting the invitation to the feast and miss out on blessings?

4.       Luke 14:26-33 Sacrifice Is Required of all Disciples. Doran and I talked about these scriptures and how we haven’t had to sacrifice like others have. We had to give up our old life and our friends but we have gained something even better. He said that he read that one of the general authorities said something to the affect: When our children go astray, we need to make sure that they know where we stand with the gospel. That we are planted firmly.

It is amazing to me how a group of people can read the same scriptures and yet have so many different insights. I mentioned this in our Fabulous 14 & 15 year old Sunday School class this past Sunday and told them how important and how much we, as teachers, love to hear their comments because they really do teach us more than they know.

So kids, when you read this, know that I have a testimony of the gospel. I know that Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father wants us to embrace the gospel and receive all the blessings in the church and the temple so that we can be an eternal family. When we focus on our eternal goal, we have more of a desire to do those things that will let us sit down together in the eternities. We are not perfect but we can keep trying to be better.