Stir Thee Up in Remembrance
Not too long ago, I was reminded of an experience I had many years ago. I wrote briefly about it here in a "Scripture Study Insights" post:
Alma 4
It doesn't take long to go through “The Pride Cycle." In the 6th year the people were humbled and many joined the church in the 7th year. In the 8th year they began to wax proud which brought contention, envy, and persecution. By the 9th year, Alma had turned over the judgment seat and devoted his time to “bearing down in pure testimony” to stir the people up “in remembrance of their duty.”
One month the visiting teaching message was on this idea of “stirring up in remembrance.” The night before my visiting teacher had made cornmeal crepes for dinner. She noticed that the cornmeal settled to the bottom of the batter very quickly, and that before making each crepe she had to stir it to mix it back in. Gospel truths have a tendency to do that also. We need to constantly be doing things – prayer, scripture study, attend meetings, serve others – so our grains of testimony stay sprinkled throughout our daily lives. It’s too easy for them to slip down and be overcome by the “busyness” of the world.
Since in that post, I didn't record the scriptures with this phrase* I wanted to do that here. (And I also posted a recipe over here if you want to try making your own cornmeal crepes.)
2 Peter 1:13
"Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance."
2 Timothy 1:6
"Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
The Book of Mormon has a lot of examples as well, although most of them are a warning of what will happen if the people don't remember.
2 Nephi 5:25
"And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction."
Mosiah 1:17
"Therefore, as they were unfaithful they did not prosper nor progress in their journey, but were driven back, and incurred the displeasure of God upon them; and therefore they were smitten with famine and sore afflictions, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty."
Helaman 11:4
"O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather let there be a famine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee."
"When we are inclined to think it is vain to serve the Lord, we should stir our faith, believe in the rich promises of God, and obey - and patiently wait. The Lord will fulfill all his rich promises. To the faithful, lavish rewards are offered. Blessings beyond one's understanding will come. Great as are the blessings in mortality which follow righteousness, they are dwarfed beside those awaiting in the world to come." (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 305-6)
* Actually, there are four pages of references with the word "stir" but many of them are talking about "stirring up to anger or war" and this post is about remembering God constantly.
Alma 4
It doesn't take long to go through “The Pride Cycle." In the 6th year the people were humbled and many joined the church in the 7th year. In the 8th year they began to wax proud which brought contention, envy, and persecution. By the 9th year, Alma had turned over the judgment seat and devoted his time to “bearing down in pure testimony” to stir the people up “in remembrance of their duty.”
One month the visiting teaching message was on this idea of “stirring up in remembrance.” The night before my visiting teacher had made cornmeal crepes for dinner. She noticed that the cornmeal settled to the bottom of the batter very quickly, and that before making each crepe she had to stir it to mix it back in. Gospel truths have a tendency to do that also. We need to constantly be doing things – prayer, scripture study, attend meetings, serve others – so our grains of testimony stay sprinkled throughout our daily lives. It’s too easy for them to slip down and be overcome by the “busyness” of the world.
Since in that post, I didn't record the scriptures with this phrase* I wanted to do that here. (And I also posted a recipe over here if you want to try making your own cornmeal crepes.)
2 Peter 1:13
"Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance."
2 Timothy 1:6
"Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
The Book of Mormon has a lot of examples as well, although most of them are a warning of what will happen if the people don't remember.
2 Nephi 5:25
"And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction."
Mosiah 1:17
"Therefore, as they were unfaithful they did not prosper nor progress in their journey, but were driven back, and incurred the displeasure of God upon them; and therefore they were smitten with famine and sore afflictions, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty."
Helaman 11:4
"O Lord, do not suffer that this people shall be destroyed by the sword; but O Lord, rather let there be a famine in the land, to stir them up in remembrance of the Lord their God, and perhaps they will repent and turn unto thee."
"When we are inclined to think it is vain to serve the Lord, we should stir our faith, believe in the rich promises of God, and obey - and patiently wait. The Lord will fulfill all his rich promises. To the faithful, lavish rewards are offered. Blessings beyond one's understanding will come. Great as are the blessings in mortality which follow righteousness, they are dwarfed beside those awaiting in the world to come." (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 305-6)
* Actually, there are four pages of references with the word "stir" but many of them are talking about "stirring up to anger or war" and this post is about remembering God constantly.
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