0:00

Have you ever asked yourself, "Why do we have all these stories in the scriptures?" Now, there are probably a lot of reasons that I'm not even aware of because I'm not a prophet, and I don't know the mind of the Lord. But I have found a couple of really important reasons that we do have the scriptures, and we're gonna talk about them this month. I'm Cindy Young, and this is Primarily Scripture. If you were to ask me why do we need to read all these stories and why are we reading the scriptures in the first place, I would tell you that it's so that we can learn three different things. Okay? Number one, we're learning about Jesus Christ, and that is the absolute, absolute most important thing. Number two, we're learning about his doctrines, and doctrines are unchanging truths. And then third is we're learning about the principles, which are things we can do, that can help us to live in harmony with the doctrines of the church, and to be happy and return to live with God someday. What we're talking about this week is what is the point? What is the overall main point of whatever it is you are reading in the scriptures? And you can do this any time that you pick up the scriptures. This is one of these tools that I want you to use every single time that you read. Every single time, ask yourself,"What is the main point?" So this week our reading is 1 Kings chapters 12 and 13, and 17 through 22. Let's talk about one of the stories in these chapters. Turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 17 The backstory here is that the people had been wicked and in order to help the people turn to God again, the prophet Elijah sealed the heavens so that there would be no rain. So we have a drought, which is causing a famine. Now, earlier in the chapter, the Lord takes care of Elijah and tells him where to go where there's water, and the Lord even sends birds who bring Elijah food so that he doesn't starve. But eventually, the Lord tells Elijah that he needs to go into the city and he will get food there. Okay? So he's told to go into the city and look for a woman So as I'm reading this, I want you to think in your head, what is the main point? If somebody asked you, "What is the story about Elijah and the widow woman all about? What's the main thing that we learn?" What would you tell them? And this is verses 11 through 16. Elijah goes into the city and he sees this woman. And Elijah "called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand." He's asking for food."And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal

in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: 2:42

and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die." She says, 'I have barely any food left. We're about to make one last cracker, and then we're gonna starve.' "And Elijah said to her, Fear not." Can you imagine being told that?"You're about to starve, but don't be afraid."Go and do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son." How much food did she say she had? Just a handful of meal, enough just for one little cracker or biscuit. And the prophet says, "give it to me first." And then he says this: "For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth." He says, 'You won't run out.'"And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah." I love this story! I love it so much! But what is it about? What do you think it's about? It could be about so many different things. There's no wrong answer here! and what it's about for you today may be different from what you think it's about in a year or two or 10 when you read it again. So let's think about those three things that we're supposed to be

looking for: 4:28

learning about Jesus, learning his doctrines or truths, and learning the principles, things that we can do in order to help us live according to the doctrines, right? First of all, what does this teach us about Jesus Christ? How could this help us come closer to Him? My thought is that this shows how the Lord takes care of us. Elijah needed food, and he was told where to go to find it. The woman needed food, and she was sent a prophet and an opportunity to serve him, and she was blessed to not starve. The Lord takes care of us when we are obedient. I think that's a beautiful, beautiful truth about Jesus Christ, and I love how this story teaches that. All right, let's think about doctrine. What are the eternal truths here that never, ever, ever change? This one might be a little bit harder to find. One of the things that comes to my mind is that the Lord works through prophets. Sometimes prophets will ask us to do things that may not make sense in our own minds. We would not choose that path on our own, but because the Lord is asking us to do it through his servant, the prophet, it is the right path and that we can trust the prophet. That is an unchanging truth. The Lord sends prophets, and we can follow the prophet. So now let's think about the third thing, principles. What is something that we can do that keeps us in line with the teachings of the church? First of all, faith. The widow woman showed so much faith. The prophet told her, "Make me food first." Her very last food, and he said, "Give it to me first, and then the Lord promises that you won't run out." How much faith did that take to listen and follow the prophet? So much faith! How can I have more faith in my life? How can you exercise faith this week to follow the Lord by following his prophet? This story is definitely a story about the principle of faith! and I think it also highlights the principle of obedience. It took faith in order to obey, but she could have just said, "You know what? I'm not gonna do it. I'm- I just want to eat this for myself," and she could have chosen to not follow that path, but she chose to obey. What a great principle. So this story teaches us a little bit about how the Lord works. It teaches some of his doctrines and truths, that he works through prophets. It also teaches the principles of faith and obedience. What else is in there? Did you think of something else that I didn't cover? Because I guarantee you there are more things in this story that I didn't talk about here. So sit and ponder and think about what is the main point. And now, to go along with our last episode, where I talked about journaling, I would love to challenge you to go write your thoughts about this story in your journal for two minutes. Just set a timer and write down all of your thoughts. You could write down how you think Elijah was feeling. How do you think the woman was feeling? What would you do if you were in that situation? What was your favorite part? Or was there a phrase or word that stood out to you? Anything you want, just go write in your journal. Every time you read, look for what the main point of the story is. What am I learning here? Why am I even reading this? Because if we're not learning about the Savior and being drawn closer to Him, then we're just reading a book. It will be so much more meaningful to us when we focus on finding those three things and inviting the Holy Ghost to help us. Thank you for being here with me today. I'm Cindy Young, and this is Primarily Scripture. Thanks for tuning in to Primarily Scripture with Cindy Young. Don't forget, you can subscribe to the newsletter and download free worksheets on the website primarilyscripture.com. And if you like the channel, be sure to subscribe, like, share, and leave a review. See you next time