Skip to main content

Jacob Chapter 5

This is a long one. Perhaps one of the longest chapters in all of the scriptures. But if we get bogged down in the length of the chapter, if we lose ourselves in the story, if we give ourselves to the concerns of the moment, we may miss the delight that is in these verses, like jewels set in a crown.

One such jewel I would like to mention today comes towards the end of the chapter. The Lord has visited the vineyard several times, each time with varying results. Finally, all seems lost and the Lord seems ready to just tear down the whole thing and start over. The servant is able to suggest that the Lord could save His vineyard if He would take certain steps. These steps the Lord is willing to do, knowing that His vineyard is precious, the roots of the tree are strong, and that if careful effort is applied it may yet bring fruit that is good and desirable.

The difference between this visit and previous visits to the vineyard is that on this occasion the Lord worked with them. Verses 70-72 relate:

70And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent hisaservant; and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other bservants; and they werecfew.

71And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and alaborin the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the blast time that I shall cnourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against the time which will soon come.

72And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

The rest of the chapter describes the effect of this work - that they were effective at producing the fruit that was most desirable.

I have often heard it said that two people can do anything, as long as one of them is the Lord. I believe that. I also believe that there's a lot of work to be done. And I want to be a part of it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christ by highest heaven adored, Christ the everlasting Lord!

The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to testify of Christ and bring souls to Him. Who can deny this who have read the book and pondered it's sacred import? My life has been blessed and I have come to know Christ through reading this holy book. I know that Christ lives and loves us. I know He is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that through His merits alone we are saved from an eternity of misery and woe. I know that He died for us. I know He lives for us, advocating our cause before the throne of the Almighty. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the Master, the Son of God, the great Jehovah. Blessed and praised be His Holy Name forever and ever! To Him be all glory, honor, and majesty to an eternal day! It is the atonement of Christ - His suffering and subsequent victory - that makes all of this possible. His grace is sufficient for all after all we can do. And make no mistake - we must do all in our power. But through Him and by Him we can and will overcome. I love H
2 comments
Read more

2020 - A retrospective

 There will no doubt be many retrospectives written about the year that was 2020. It was a tough year for most, a good year for many, and generally speaking a very interesting year. Which reminds me of the the old curse - may you live in interesting times. Because, you see - interesting does not always mean good. It does not mean better. It does not mean happy. It just means interesting. So to highlight just how interesting things were, I offer the following post about things that went on. Or didn’t went on. It’s not intended to be chronological, necessarily, or even accurate. It’s just some of my observations.... Let’s start with the pandemic. Pandemic is a word that was previously the realm of science fiction and/or horror writers (The Stand comes to mind). Late 2019 a disease was identified in Wuhan, China, which is a place I’d never heard of before. Apparently coming from some kind of exotic meat market, this strain of Coronavirus was something that the world hadn’t seen before. Ma
Post a Comment
Read more

Is this thing still on?

 Does anyone even blog anymore? I remember when it first got started and everyone was having a blog. I like writing, and I do a lot of it in my professional life, but not everything makes it onto this blog, which is where a lot of my personal thoughts come out. I put more into Facebook lately, too, because it's a little easier. But there's something to be said for this long-form writing exercise, and I think I will continue here periodically. You don't mind, do you? Well, in my last post I wrote about how difficult things were for me at the time. That changed in July when I finally got a job working for the State of Utah. I was the program manager for the moderate income housing database program, and that meant I worked from home a lot but also went in to Salt Lake when needed, mostly on the train. It was a good experience, for the most part, and I'm grateful for the things I learned even in the short time I was there.  In October I started working for Weber County in t
Post a Comment
Read more