Abraham Part I: A Follower of Righteousness

I was going to pull out my gospel library app on my iPhone to read the lesson for tomorrow (Sunday, May 6) – and then remembered that it is the first Sunday of the month tomorrow (and that means a message from the Presidency of our women’s organization at Church). So I won’t know what the lesson is about tomorrow until about noon when I sit in class.

That’s fine – but now I’m faced with the dilemma of finding my own topic to study this evening. Not a problem, usually, but I haven’t been doing so well with my scripture study, so I don’t really have  a plan. One thing I know is that if I don’t have a plan, nothing happens.

I’ve been meaning to dive into a study of the Abrahamic Covenant, so here I go:

In the Book of Abraham, Abraham states that he is a “follower of righteousness.”

Abraham’s statement of desire echoes inside my spirit:

“…desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, … and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.” (Abraham 1:2)

I also desire to be one who possesses great knowledge. R and I talk a lot about what it means to want something. We like to say that “You want the end inasmuch as you want the means.”

If you truly desire something, then you won’t gripe and complain about doing the things that will yield that result.

For example, if I really want to be able to run a half marathon, I won’t complain about the training leading up to the half. I also won’t complain about how hard the run was. I will want to train, and want to run the hard 13.1 miles.

If I truly desire to be one who possesses “great knowledge” then I will desire to study, read, ponder, pray, and listen to the knowledge of others, and most importantly, listen to the Spirit to receive Heavenly knowledge and confirmation and testimony.

Do you find yourself saying that you “want” something, but not being truly committed to the way to get there? Or have you learned to love the path to your goals?