He is everything I want to be

 

 

Helaman 9:32–Helaman 13:7

Dirt is my hero

By Emily Freeman

People should be more like dirt, don’t you think?

Not in all ways, of course.  I mean–I don’t think we should lie around in the garden all day, or let worms and bugs live in us.  And I certainly don’t think we would want people to sweep us off driveways or wash us down drains before dinner.

But there is something admirable about dirt.

The Lord thought so.

“O how great the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.”

Less than dirt?  How so? What’s so good about dirt?

“For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God.  Yea, behold at his voice do the hills and the mountains tremble and quake…Yea, and if he say unto the earth—Move—it is moved.” (Helaman 12:7-8)

I like these verses.  Whatever God asks dirt to do, it does.  Admirable, huh?

In a way, they remind me of a favorite comparison Isaiah made too.

“I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know…” (Isaiah 1:2-3)

In other words—

Israel, I have raised you up.  I have taken care of you all of your days.  I have taken care of you all my days too.  I have nourished and cared for you in ways you do not remember and don’t recognize.  When have I not fed you?  When have I not protected you?  Even an ox knows who his master is.  Even a barnyard donkey knows where to go to find protection and food.  But for some reason, Israel doesn’t.

Why does the dirt always do what I ask it to and you won’t?

Every time I tell the dirt to move, it moves.  But my children—they don’t.

Even when I have “prospered…and increased…and spared…and softened” you do “forget the Lord…and do trample under your feet the Holy One.” (Helaman 12:2).

Once I placed a pathway of pictures of Christ and the scriptures across a classroom floor and asked if any of the students wanted to walk through like stepping stones.

No one budged.

No one would dream of it.

It was almost awful to even ask.

In fact, hands were itching to pick them up to show respect and honor.

Why is it so obvious in moments like that?

No I won’t step on those pictures.

No I won’t be dumber than an ox.

Yes I will be as obedient as dirt!

When God says move—I will move.

When God says come—I will come.

When God says partake—I will partake.

But just for the record—not because dirt does it.

Because dirt is not really my hero.

Jesus Christ is my hero.

He is everything I want to be.

He was “Thy will be done.”

When God said move—He moved.

When God said come—He came.

When God said partake—He partook.

He already marked the path.

And now He calls for us to “Come, Follow Me.”

And so I will.

Always.