Matt's Message #2: Thoughts on the Theme

The 2017 Theme

With the turn of a year, there's a change in the theme scripture for the youth. For any who don't know, the theme scripture for this year is James 1:5-6. It reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

Let's Break it Down

For this post I want to help you realize just how fantastic this year's theme scripture is! I think the best way to do that is to break it down into bits; you have to eat the elephant one bite at a time. So here we go.

If any of you lack wisdom 

Let me make a big long list of all the people I can think of that don't lack wisdom:

1. ...

Oh shucks, I couldn't think of anyone. Every single one of us lacks wisdom. Every. Single. One. Clearly, this scripture is for everyone. However, I think there may be a special message for the humble who WANT to learn from God. Let me explain. Notice the verbiage the scripture uses. It says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God," It doesn't say, "Everybody should ask God." I'm quite certain there's a reason for this.

I'm aware of people that go through life thinking they don't need God and they don't need religion. Their thought process may be something like this, "I'm getting along in life just fine. I've got a decent job, a nice house, and friends that make me happy, so why in the world would I waste time going to 3 hours of church every Sunday when I'm doing just fine without God in my life?" If you asked one of these people if they need wisdom from God in their life they would probably say no. They just don't have a desire to get wisdom from God.

Now consider Joseph Smith. At first Joseph searched a whole bunch of different religions for truth. He attended many different churches looking for the true one but felt it was impossible to find when each sect seemed to disagree with each other. When Joseph came across James 1:5 he wrote, "Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did." (Joseph Smith History 1:12) Clearly, Joseph had a GIGANTIC desire to learn from God.

So, the first group of people that don't care to learn from God... Well, they'll go on and probably live a fine life. But without a desire, they will never know just how amazing the blessing of relying on God is. They'll continue to think that the Oreo is the best cookie out there without ever trying a homemade, hot, fresh chocolate chip cookie.

Now Joseph Smith again... After reading James 1:5 he went to the woods and asked God which church was true. He found that none of them were and went on to restore the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He became the first modern-day prophet of the church and performed tons of amazing miracles. Doctrine and Covenants 135:3 says, "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it." Wow. Bam.

So what's the difference between Joseph and the group I mentioned? I'd say the big one is each of their desire's to learn from God. It is those who want God's wisdom that are going to get it.

Let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not

To begin this one let me list a few basic things that everyone should know about our Heavenly Father.

• He loves you.
• He wants to bless you.
• He wants you to talk to him.
• He answers your prayers.

With these things in mind, why on Earth wouldn't you want to ask Heavenly Father for knowledge!?!?!?! Heavenly Father loves you so much that his whole goal is for you to be happy! (Oh man, if only girls liked me that much!)

Now to provide a little perspective let me define liberally. Liberally: In large or generous amounts. -Google. With this definition in mind it's easy to see that God will give us the information we ask for. He knows that having more knowledge leads to happiness and happiness is exactly what he wants for us. Now, on the footnote for 'upbraideth' it says, "reproaches, censures." So when the scripture says 'upbraideth' it basically means that God won't express disapproval to us and he won't judge us for our need of knowledge. Infact, he will be happy we asked. There's no need to feel uncomfortable like I do when I need to ask a question in math class. God will just be happy we asked.

And it shall be given him

Well this one is simple. God will give us knowledge if we ask for it. I can't even tell you how much knowledge God has given me. He has helped me learn about countless scriptures, he's given me guidance on many different life decisions. He has even helped me through swim workouts when I've asked for it, and helped me learn how to do my math homework. (Infact, I don't think I would've earned an "A" in math 4th quarter last year if I didn't have my Heavenly Father helping me.) He will give you what you need if you ask for it. I promise.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering

"Faith is a principle of action and power. Whenever you work toward a worthy goal, you exercise faith." -True to the Faith. When we ask God for knowledge we need to ask in faith. This means that we need to search out the answer for ourselves. We have to put work in. We can't just halfheartedly hope that God will tell us what we want to know. When we put our work in, that's when God will help us out. If we don't do this it's like asking your English teacher to write your essay for you. That's preposterous. You have to write it yourself then your teacher will probably be willing to help you perfect it. Going back to the example of my math homework- I had to start working on it and do my best, then God started teaching me and helped me to learn much faster than I could without his help.

For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

If you don't have faith, you're going to waver. A hard decision is going to come up and you'll end up going with the crowd. You'll head right to the great and spacious building only to find that everyone there is mad, unhappy, and confused.  In the gospel of Jesus Christ faith is a necessity. It's no coincidence that faith is the first principle of the gospel. (Articles of Faith 1:4.) Faith in Christ will get you to your goals and keep you on the straight and narrow path. If you don't believe me, well good thing Helaman 5:12 backs me up. "it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." It's worth it to build on the foundation on Christ. I'm 100% sure. Trust me.

In a Nutshell

James 1: 5-6 is for everyone because God wants all of us to ask him for wisdom. However, it is those who want to approach God for knowledge and help that are going to get it. Heavenly Father loves his children so he will be very happy with us as we go to Him for information. It's just like any parent whose kid asks for advice. They would be happy that the kid came to them rather than googling it or asking a friend. He wants to give it to us and will as long as it will be good for us. When we ask we must have faith so that we will do our part to find answers, then God will help us out. If we don't have faith we will end up lost and confused and far away from where we would like to be.

What Can We Do About This?

At then end of each post I want to start including suggestions about what you can do because of the post. Like I said in my first post, this blog is about inspiring you, so I really hope you'll accept one of the challenges from as many posts as possible. Will you accept the challenge!?!?!?!

1. Ask Heavenly Father for the answer to a gospel question.
2. Pray for a desire for knowledge.
3. Exercise faith by trying harder to achieve a goal and ask Heavenly Father to help you.