When my kids were little and I would put them to bed, sometimes they would ask for a bedtime story, and I would try to tell them stories that were more boring than you can possibly imagine. I would describe every single detail and I would drag this story on in the most boring way possible. but if my husband was in the room when they asked for a story, I knew that we were cooked! He would tell exciting stories with silly twists and monsters who said unexpected things while wearing ridiculous socks. Now, which story do you think helped my kids to fall asleep faster? When you read the scriptures, you are going to come across some parts that are exciting and interesting to read and follow, and then other parts will almost put you to sleep. Today is part five of my tips to help you understand the scriptures. And we are talking about three different kinds of passages that you will encounter in the scriptures, how to identify them, and what to do with them. I'm Cindy Young, and this is Primarily Scripture. We're gonna talk today about three different types of passages that you'll encounter in the scriptures. The first one is the hardest to understand and in my opinion, that is most likely to make you want to quit reading the Old Testament, and that is Informational. The second is the easiest to follow and understand, and that is Stories. We all are familiar with scripture stories. And the third one gives us the most clear teachings, and that is Sermons. So let's talk about these three different types, informational stories and sermons. How can you identify them? Well, for the informational passages, it's easy to identify them because spoiler alert, you're gonna be bored. these are often told in list form and you'll get a list of genealogy or a list of descriptions about lands- like to the east was this city and to the west was that city and the river ran through it. The other kind of informational passage that we'll get to pretty soon in our studies is administrative, the law of Moses. What are the rules? What are the consequences? What do the priests wear, and how should the priests perform the sacrifices. Things like that. It is very informational, very boring, and for most of us, very hard to get through. So that's gonna be kind of easy to identify. Now informationally, you'll have times that are talking about places or people, but the stories will also have people and places. Instead of just listing them and describing them, you get things like what they did, what they said, their interactions with each other, where they went. Stories will also have a timeline, a sequence of events. This happened, then this happened. What happened next? And this is what we are most familiar with because this is what we tell our kids, right? We start with scripture stories. Very easy. And this is most people's favorite kind of passage to read in the scriptures. The third kind of passage that you'll come across are sermons. I'm sure you already know what a sermon is, but for our very youngest or newest listeners, I'll just explain it real quick. It's basically a talk that teaches about something religious, something in the context of the gospel. So when someone gives a talk in church, they're giving a sermon. When they speak in General Conference, they're giving a sermon. We get writings in the scriptures of sermons that the prophets gave. These will often include things like commandments, what we're supposed to do, doctrine, eternal truth, promises, warnings, to do lists- we'll be encouraged to act in some way. That's a sermon. We can also identify it because it's given by somebody in authority. Especially in the scriptures, sermons are given by prophets. Sometimes you'll come across a sermon that is given by the Lord himself because he's giving commandments and teachings to the people. Now that we know the three different types of passages and how to identify them, let's talk about why you would even want to identify them. Why would you need to identify whether you're reading information or a story or a sermon? Well, it will help you to understand better. That's what this month is all about, understanding the scriptures. What if you opened up the Book of Mormon and you were reading what King Benjamin said, and you thought that he was telling a story about what he did as a king- because he definitely talks about that- and if you think that's a story that he's telling, then your brain will get locked into story mode and it might start looking for what happens next. And then you're going to be confused when he starts talking about the suffering that people will go through if they rebel against God, or when he starts talking about how we should feed the hungry. Well, it's not a story. King Benjamin was giving a sermon. At the same time, if you read information like a story, you'll probably get bored very quickly, and you might even fall asleep just like my kids did when I purposefully told them boring bedtime stories. So that information that's included in the Bible was put there to preserve the history and for people who want to know every detail. If that's not for you, or if your brain is looking for a story, then most likely you won't get much out of it, you'll probably be confused, and you might even consider never reading the scriptures again because they're just too hard, too boring, too confusing. And we don't want to have that happen, so let's avoid that. If you are feeling confused by the scriptures, then you could try to identify if you're reading information, a story, or a sermon, and then you'll know better how to handle that passage. So how do we approach these passages? Let's start with the easiest one first- stories. And you already know how to do this. If you're reading a scripture story, the first thing to do is make sure you understand it. Can you retell what happened? After you know the basics of the story, then you can start asking yourself, what can we learn from this? Is there an overall message of the story of faith or courage or patience? You could analyze the characters. How did they respond to their trials, or what Christlike attributes did they have? You could look at the timeline and ask yourself, is there anything significant about the order of events? And then third, relate it to your own life. How is my understanding of a gospel principle different because of this story? And how can I make choices that reflect what I've learned from this story? That's the most common way of reading and studying and applying the scriptures is with stories, because it really is the easiest. When you have a sermon, you're gonna approach it similarly, but instead of looking for the people and the timeline, you're going to look for those specific doctrines. What is the truth that's being taught and how can I understand it better? Looking for ways to apply it to yourself, of course, and always, always asking, what does this teach me about Jesus Christ? Now, my tip for what to do with information, you are either going to love or hate this tip. Either you'll think that I'm sacrilegious or that I'm an actual genius. Are you ready for this? Because the informational parts of the Old Testament, it's like boss level scripture study. This is deep and boring and complicated stuff. So think about it this way- we wouldn't put a 4-year-old dancer in point shoes to dance ballet, and we wouldn't take a 9-year-old pitcher and put him in the World Series. We wouldn't take a 2-year-old who really, really loves trucks and put them in the pits at a monster truck rally. Even though each of them may love those different activities, they're not ready for that level of involvement. So the same thing goes with these long passages of information in the scriptures. This is like the hardest part, the hardest possible thing that you could study in the scriptures, is all of these nitty gritty details. So when you come across these long passages of information, and I'm not talking about a phrase or one or two verses, I mean like a whole page or a whole chapter, when you come across these passages, my advice to you is skim it or skip it! Now, I'm not saying that these are not important or that you should never read them, but let's be honest, if you are here on Primarily Scripture looking for help with your scripture study, then how to do a deep dive and get something out of the very hardest and the most complex parts of the Old Testament, is not something that you're actually looking for. Once you are comfortable in the Bible, there are many other resources to help you with these informational chapters and passages. Until then, if your goal is to read every single word of the Old Testament, then when you come to these passages, just skim over it. You can even use the chapter headings to help you get a sense of what they're talking about, and then quickly skim through it. And otherwise, if you're not trying to read every single word, feel free to skip it entirely. Your energy will be much better spent if you are looking at the stories and the sermons and applying them to your life. So if you really want to understand the scriptures and feel comfortable with the parts that you are reading, then identifying these stories and sermons and informational passages is a really good place to start. And with each one, once you identify the kind of passage you're reading, your brain will get switched into that mode, and you'll be able to follow and process what you read so much easier than if you just stumble along unsure of the kinds of words that you're reading. All right, so if you've been listening all month, then you've got a whole pocket full of tips and tricks that will help you to better understand the scriptures. Coming up next month. We're gonna focus on all the ways that a pen or a pencil can change your scripture study forever. You're going to love it. Thank you so much for being here with me every week. I'm Cindy Young, and this is Primarily Scripture. Thanks for tuning into primarily Scripture with Cindy Young. 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