It's almost 3:00 in the morning as I write this. You would think I would have learned by now that "going to bed" at 9:30 with the light still on will not result in sleeping through the night. I was falling asleep as I read my book for my history class, so I thought, okay, I'll just go to bed now and get up around 5:30 in the morning and finish it. The next thing I know, the light's still on and it's only 20 minutes later. Hence, my wakefulness right now.
I'm supposed to get up and go over to the Marriott Center by 8 so that I can buy tickets and sell them for the BYU ballroom dance concert. Then I'm supposed to go to classes and work and not get home until 5, get my cleaning assignments done for our cleaning check, and go to the temple (which I'm excited about). *sarcasm* Good thing almost all of my classes that require me to be in class for credit are tomorrow. *groan* Tomorrow/today is going to be lots of fun. Who knows if I'll even fall asleep before it's time to wake up.
Since I'm awake, I thought I'd put my time to good use and do my weekly BOM post, seeing as it's due tomorrow/today.
I learn the coolest things in that class. There's so much to learn, and it definitely helps if you have an instructor who knows and loves what they're teaching and if you're willing to work and learn. We talked about 3 Nephi 24 on Tuesday, and about tithing. It's kind of the same principle as the sacrament. God doesn't need our sacrifices; in fact, He's completely fine without them. He does it because we need them. Think about this story:
Two boys had a picnic basket that they took to a river, followed by a mother cat. The mother cat had recently had kittens, and because no one wanted the kittens, the boys were sent to drown them. One boy reached into the basket, pulled out a kitten, and proceeded to throw it into the river as the mother cat anxiously watched on, ready to jump into the river to save her kitten. As the next boy pulled out another kitten, a man came by and asked if he could buy the kittens from them. They agreed, the man rescued the first cat from the river, and took both kittens home. He created a comfortable bed for them and fed them. The next day, the man had several important guests over for a meeting. As they all congregated in the living room, the mother cat walked in holding a freshly caught, juicy rat. She walked right up to the man, gently laid the rat at his feet, and rubbed up against his legs.
The man didn't need the rat, and probably didn't even want it. Yet it was the mother cat's way of saying thank you for what the man had done for her. It works the same way when we pay tithing. Our Heavenly Father doesn't need the 10% of our income. He isn't scrimping pennies to build temples, but we give our money to Him in gratitude for all He's done for us. We give it to Him because He asked us to, because we love Him, and because we want to be like Him. The blessings we receive from sacrificing and paying tithing are so much more than anything we will ever give up. He promises us in 3 Nephi 24:10 "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse...and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
We will be blessed for paying tithing and sacrificing when the Lord asks us to. We may not see it now, but the blessings will come. Mother Gothel at least had one thing right when she said "All good things to those who wait." [Even though she was entirely misguided and misguiding when she said it.] My challenge to you this week is to watch for the blessings in your life that come when you sacrifice, whether it be your time, talents, money, etc.
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