I have. Lots. Throughout the years I would at times skeptically wonder, "Really? Reading a couple words on a page is going to make my day better? It's going to change who I am? What I want? What I see? I don't get it."
Many latter-day prophets have promised that a careful reading of the Book of Mormon can do nothing short of generating many miracles.
I thought it sounded like a fairy tale. Magic. Read....>Poof<!! Instant better day! Just by reading a couple pages out of some book. Then again, it's not just 'some book'. I've come to realize it's THE book. I've heard variations of this promise throughout my life. Just enough times to take the challenge. I put it to the test. You know what I discovered? Fairy tales are more than real.* And this promise is secure and tight. It works!
I was confused, yet pleasantly so, when my days WOULD go better when I read the Book of Mormon. I couldn't figure it out. I was baffled and befuddled. I really DID become a better, happier version of myself. I loved others more. My perspective shifted. If I wasn't paying close attention I may have even missed the subtle, yet ironically enough, drastic change in myself. That left a big question to be answered...How?
I pondered upon these things for awhile. I know I don't understand it perfectly, but I do know that it's not magic. It's something better. It's the light of Christ. When we read The Book of Mormon, we are inviting into our lives the words of Christ, which in turn bring his power. Little by little, bit by bit. The power to change all of my spiritual anatomy problems including my hard heart, my stiff neck, my deaf ears and my blind eyes. It changes what I see, because it changes me.
The scriptures are jam-packed with how powerful the word of God is. My favorite example is in Alma 31:5:
"... preaching of the word... had a more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else..."
Yep. That is pretty powerful. There's more. Just to name a few, in Helaman 3:29, "whosoever will lay hold upon the word of God" will be able to cut through the countless deceptive snares of the adversary. Jacob teaches us the word of God heals wounded souls. Psalms 119 says the word will show our feet where to go. Nephi testifies that the word of God will teach us all things we should do. Paul writes in his letter to Timothy that it is through the word of God that men become perfected. Helaman shows the way in Helaman 15:7-8. Because God's word leads us to act in faith to repent. Repentance is the process our hearts are changed. Repeating this process over and over again allows us to become firmer and more steadfast in the faith.
Amazing. I could go on all day. I won't though. {I think I heard you just breathe a sigh of relief.} We both have got to get moving and acting upon the word. :)
I love God's word! FEAST upon the words. And never hunger.
* " Fairy tales are more than true. Not because they tell us dragons exist, but they tell us dragons can be defeated." - Neil Gaiman
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