President Clark and I are excited about this new semester at BYU-Idaho, and we are glad to have you with us today. I pray that the Spirit will bless and inspire all of us while we are together here for this hour of devotional.
This is such a beautiful time of year in Rexburg. I have watched out my kitchen window, and it seems the green fields of summer mellowed into golden fields of harvest practically overnight. I am filled with a sense of connection to those beautiful fields. They have nurtured the plants that produce the food we eat every day. It is a lovely miracle. The fertile earth nurtures the plants that nurture us!
I would like to suggest that BYU-Idaho is like those nourishing fields. It is a place where students are nourished and grow and develop. There are many nutrients available to you on campus every day. Today I want to talk about three that are essential: love of God, love of fellowman, and love of self. A good description of these three nutrients is found in Mosiah chapters 4 and 5.
Nutrient #1 - Love of God
Let's start in Mosiah, chapter 4, with verse 9:
Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.[1]
King Benjamin teaches us that our relationship with our Heavenly Father grows when we talk to Him, express our love to Him, and thank Him for all that we have. We need to confess, repent, and forsake our sins before Him; ask for His forgiveness; serve Him; and keep His commandments. As we do these things, King Benjamin promises:
. . . ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God."[2]
As we feel His love, we will realize that He cares about us and knows us and our individual needs.
Nutrient # 2 - Love of Fellowman
Let's look together now at verses 13 and 26:
Ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.[3] . . . impart of your substance to the poor . . . feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally.[4]
King Benjamin exhorts us to love and serve the people around us every day, to look outward beyond our own desires and ambitions to see the needs of others and invite them to grow with us. Our salvation depends on us being our brother's keeper.
Nutrient # 3 - Love of Self
For this last nutrient, please turn to Mosiah, chapter 5, verse 7, and read with me King Benjamin's description of the covenant people of the Lord:
And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; . . . for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.[5]
This is a description of you. You are the sons and daughters of the King, and He loves you and He wants you to see yourself and love yourself as He sees you and loves you. If you will turn to Him and keep His commandments, He will bless you with His pure and perfect love.
The Savior is the source of all three of these nutrients. Just as the plants in the field cannot grow without the earth, without water, and without the light of the sun, so we cannot thrive and grow spiritually without the Savior. He is the Son of God, the Living Water, the Light and the Life of the World. I know He lives and loves us. And I know that in Him we may feel the love of God, love our fellowman, and see and love ourselves as He sees and loves us. It is my prayer that you may obtain these nutrients in your life in this sacred and set apart place. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes:
[1] Mosiah 4:9
[2] Mosiah 4:12
[3] Mosiah 4:13
[4] Mosiah 4:26
[5] Mosiah 5:7