Week 8: How Would Jesus Spend the Next Few Minutes, Hours, Days, etc.? 

Scriptures:

2 Ne 2

D&C 58: 26-27

3 Ne 27:21

Luke 15

General Conference Address:  

To the Rescue: We Can Do It By Elder Mervyn B. Arnold CR 4/2016

Waiting for the Prodigal By Elder Brent H. Nielson CR 4/2015

Thought:

“If Jesus were right here, right next to me today, how would he suggest we spend the next few hours?”  I can’t remember where I first heard this idea, but it resonated with me.  We sometimes confuse busyness with usefulness, activity for productivity, and learning for doing.  If Jesus were here, I don’t envision him spending much time alone. We do have a few examples in the scriptures where Jesus went off by himself, but I wonder if that was exclusively a preparatory behavior.  In any case, I don’t see the Savior spending much time alone if he came to visit.  In my mind, he would spend his time gathering and healing, sitting and talking, teaching and loving, searching for and finding.  Is that not instructive for us?  What are we called to do?  The same thing he would say and do if he were here.

Misc: 

Something doesn’t need to be bad to be distracting.  It’s easy to become distracted by less important things.  Just remember that you are called to serve and that might mean service, phone calls, invitations, member work, preparatory work, giving blessings, being a blessing, etc.  Seek the will of the Lord and then do your best to follow through.  Then evaluate your labor and adjust where necessary.  “Revelation comes most often when we are on the move” (Sharing the Gospel, Elder Oaks CR Oct 2001)

Invitation: 

Evaluate your week for activities that may be missionary things, but not missionary work.  What can you do to realign, alter, or replace them with weightier matters?