Come Follow Me January 9-15 Matthew 2; Luke 2 Part 1

I need a way to really dig into Come Follow Me. I used to blog when I studied the scriptures, and when blogging kind of fell out of favor (because now we have all this video/audio content) I kind of stopped blogging regularly. There was also the complication of the tragic end of my marriage, my remarriage to a man who gave me three extra kiddos, and then raising all those kids. Ha ha. Well, things have slowed down, and now I am going to really get back to blogging.

From the day of his birth, it was clear that Jesus was no ordinary child. It wasn't just the new star in the heavens of the joyous angelic proclamation that made Jesus' infancy remarkable. It was also the fact that such a variety of faithful people - from different nations, professions, and backgrounds - felt immediately drawn to Him.

Isn't this so remarkable? That so many people from so many different backgrounds came unto Him. Will I be drawn to Christ when He comes again? Am I drawn to Him now?  

The Nativity story is such a familiar story, sometimes it looses its wonder. I am trying to remember to never lose my sense of wonder, as the song goes. I want to find wonder in all the familiarity of the world. 

Luke 2:1-7

Jesus Christ was born in humble circumstances.

What is the significance of the Savior being born in humble circumstances? The scriptures talk about how the Savior knew exactly how to succor us, because of his experiences. We tend to have more empathy for people when we have similar experiences as them. Beyond just the idea of empathy and succoring, the prophets of old prophesied that the Savior would be born in the circumstances in which He was born.

The Come Follow Me manual suggests "ponder what [the Luke 2:1-7] account of His birth teaches you about Him. Try to identify details or insights in this story that you hadn't noticed before." Here goes:

• It had been prophesied that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. The census happened at just the right time for Joseph to be able to take Mary to Bethlehem. Heavenly Father allow things to happen at just the right time, in just the right order for the Savior to be born in Bethlehem.
• I often think about how Joseph and Mary decided that Mary should go to Bethlehem. I doubt Joseph was required to take Mary. He probably could have left her home to have the baby, but instead, they both went. I imagine that Mary and Joseph were not ignorant of the prophecies of the Savior's birth. When the decree went out to be taxed, they were likely not surprised that they would be going to Bethlehem so near to Mary's delivery. Maybe they had a little conversation and said "Look, God said that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Let's pack the donkey and get ready to have this baby in Bethlehem." In fact, I doubt that the birth in Bethlehem was unexpected. They probably knew it would happen, and likely carried provisions for the birth, and possibly event traveled with midwives or other birth attendants.

How does noticing these things affect your feelings toward Him?

It is comforting to know that He knew. That He knew he would be coming to a lowly, humble stable. He knew, and He wanted to do it. He was willing to do it to fulfill the prophesies, and to better understand how to succor his people.

Stay tuned for Part 2 (and probably Part 3, etc) of my Come Follow Me study this week!

Come Follow Me and Women

 Some friends and started the year getting together and discussing the women in the Old Testament as we followed the Come Follow Me curriculum each week. Things got busy for some of us (me) and the group kind of dissolved, but we are trying to resurrect it. They got together tonight, but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it because I am getting ready to leave for Girls Camp tomorrow and all my clothes are in the wash. A silly excuse, I know, but to make up for it, while the laundry was running, I went through Heather's book Walking with the Women in the Old Testament and tried to correlate all the women in her book with the Come Follow Me curriculum. I was surprised to find that the majority of the scriptures that mention women in the Old Testament have been completed left out of the Come Follow Me curriculum. As I skimmed over those chapters, though, it was pretty clear why. Many of the verses don't mention much about the women, and almost all of the stories are pretty tragic, or deal with some seriously heavy topics (incest, dying in childbirth, etc). Not exactly stuff you want to bring up in Sunday School.

But for us women, I think talking about these circumstances and the women who endured them is incredibly valuable, so I made a schedule so we can study them. Some of them I was able to match up with the Come Follow Me curriculum, but the majority are in books that we have already covered at this point in Come Follow Me, so we'll have to play catch up later.

Because I am not with my friends, I decided I would type out my thoughts about the women that fit with Come Follow Me this week. But I think I'll do it in another post, so look for that one to show up tomorrow (if anyone is even still reading this blog - ha ha ha. I highly doubt it. Although I do plan to write more on here. I've forgotten how much I love writing. Maybe some day I will write a book.