How to Follow Christ: The Lost Coin

I'm still reading the New Testament, in Luke. I'm trying to take the parables slowly, let them seep into my soul. There's a pairing of parables in Luke 15, the parable of the lost sheep, and the parable of the lost coin, that seem very similar, but that make different points.


I think most people who have read the New Testament have been affected by the parable of the lost sheep. Such an image, of a shepherd bringing the lost one home on his shoulders.


Today I have been thinking about the lost coin. It's slightly different. From the commentary I read (some by Bruce R. McConkie, some by Andrew Skinner and Kelly Ogden, and some by Reverend Farrar), this parable is juxtaposed with the lost sheep because whereas a sheep can wander off of its own power, the coin is lost due to neglect.


8 ¶Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one ^apiece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.

 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the ^aangels of God over one ^bsinner that repenteth.

I think of myself as the woman having the responsibility over the coins. The coins, of course, are souls. Like the coin itself, which has the image of the king stamped upon it to give it value, the soul of man has the image of the King stamped upon it, giving it value. We are made in God's image. Every soul has value. As a follower in the kingdom, I have responsibility for the souls within it, and should do everything this woman did (turn on a bright light, sweep to the very corners) to reach out and find the lost souls within my sphere of responsibility.

It's hard sometimes to labor that diligently. I find myself tending to think that people have their agency to choose whether they want to wander--like the sheep. But truthfully, some souls are lost by neglect, like the coin. And then, how much greater the duty to seek them out.

I want to be better at this.

How to Make Sacrifices for Christ: Counting the Cost

This morning I was reading in the New Testament from Luke Chapter 14. I'm making my way through the New and Old Testaments slowly. Recently I read something I believe was from Joseph Fielding McConkie like "We read the scriptures too quickly," and that's certainly been the case with me. A chapter in three different books each morning, about a half hour of study. Zip, done. Pondering quickly (oxymoron), getting a bit of spiritual breakfast and I'm off.


But I ought to be feasting on the word. And so I've been reading more slowly. In the New Testament I've been trying to read just a paragraph or two (signified by the paragraph symbols.) I then try to focus and think about what that parable or event could mean. It has helped.


So today I read about when Jesus was being followed by a great multitude of people and he turned to them and told them in order to be his disciples they have to hate father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, to follow him. Then he gave this parable:


28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and ^acounteth the ^bcost, whether he have sufficient to ^cfinish it?

 29 Lest ^ahaply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to ^afinish.

 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and ^aconsulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ^aambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that ^aforsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my ^bdisciple.

The thing that struck me about this was that yes, we want to follow Christ. We feel the Spirit when we read His words and the Spirit fills our souls, and we think this is what I want. That must have been the case among the great multitude that followed Him.

But Christ pointed out that there is a cost. If you want the tower, you have to plan to finish it. If you want to win the battle, you need to evaluate your resources and whether you're going to win. You don't want to look like a quitter. You don't want to look like a failure. You need to plan for the victory and for success. But the tower is worth it, as is the victory. And so you "count the cost."

That final verse, 33, where he says, "forsaketh not all that he hath," shows what the cost is for becoming a disciple of Christ, one of the greatest things to be desired because the rewards are immeasurably great--greater than the multitude could've imagined at that time.

This is the cost: all that we are and have, forever more.

Considering this, I think baptism is what shows that we are willing to give it, and I believe that the strengthening we get from the Holy Ghost along the way is the great enabling power that helps us pay that cost as we go. We learn to pay the price. We become so that we are able to pay the cost, with His divine help.

We should not forget to count that Helper into our cost estimate, because He is always there for us, lifting us and making us better.

Tables of the Heart (2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

I have been thinking for a long time about how to begin a blog of my studies of the scriptures, and this morning I woke up uncommonly early, around 3:30, and instead of trying to shut off my brain just got up.


As I did my daily scripture study, though, I got this impression I should not postpone this project any longer. But, do you know how hard it is to come up with a blog address that isn't already in use on Blogger? Pretty tough. I have had a couple of blogs before, and I run one for my author website (although I pay for the domain name for that) so I knew finding the right, unused address would be tough, but it took a good long time.


Until I remembered this favorite scripture of mine. (In this blog I will be copying and pasting scripture references from LDS.org, which has hyperlinks embedded. It will help me make sure I don't have typos in my scripture posts.)


2 Corinthians 3:2-3
2 Ye are our ^aepistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, ^awritten not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in ^btables of stone, but in ^cfleshy tables of the ^dheart.


The Apostle Paul is telling us that his true letters that he sends out to the world are the members of Christ's Church. "We" are the epistles. But we aren't written with ink, but with the Holy Ghost, and the writing isn't on paper or stone, but in the fleshy tables of our hearts (tables meaning notebooks, or tablets.)


I love this. I hope I can be His epistle.


What I would like to do specifically in the coming days to be His letter to the world is to be more aware of the needs of people around me who I love, and to try to serve in ways I can, as well as take my young children with me in that service.


The thing that really woke me up this morning was a great worry that perhaps I was failing at being a mother to a certain child, allowing that child to waste time because I've been busy with other projects. What came to me was this great desire to include this child in serving others in coming days, and see what, if any, effect there is.


And maybe this is the way to write in this child's tables of the heart. At least that is what I am praying for today.