Acting upon the Spirit.

Wisdom’s Path

 

By Emily Freeman

Mosiah 1:17 – Mosiah 3:23

A friend asked me a question recently that has caused me to reflect.

“Do you believe that living righteously gives you more blessings than people who don’t live righteously?”

It’s not a new question, it’s an age old question handed down from generation to generation.  It’s a question that has been asked over and over again through the pages of scripture.   The doctrine is clear, the Lord does bless and prosper His people.

But that answer leads to more questions…because the Lord loves all of His children, and sometimes bad things happen to good people, and sometimes the blessings we seek after come in the Lord’s timing not ours…even in the most righteous moments of our lives.

Lately I have determined that maybe we need to look at the answer to this question in a different way… because as I read the scriptures I have begun to notice a pattern.

It is defined simply in Mosiah 2:36, which talks of the Spirit of the Lord that will “guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved”

Does living righteously simply qualify us for blessings, or does it qualify us for an increase of the Spirit which will allow us to be blessed, prospered, and preserved if we follow as it guides us in wisdom’s paths…

I think about Moses being led to find Manna in the wilderness places.  I think of Nephi being led to the most fertile parts of the wilderness by the liahona.

Would the Brother of Jared have found the Promised Land on his own?

Or did it require learning to communicate with the Lord through prayer, listening to the Spirit, and then acting upon the promptings.

The blessings came as a result of acting upon the Spirit…

That Spirit which guides in wisdom’s paths that we might be blessed, prospered, and preserved.

…..is it enough to simply go to Church, attend the Temple, read the scriptures, approach the Lord in prayer, and serve the Lord.  Will just simply checking those items off our

 “to do” list bring blessings and prosperity and wisdom?

Or is there some action required on our part?

If those become rote rituals, if I am not inclined to access the Spirit which is readily available in those sacred opportunities, will I be led in wisdom’s paths? Will I be blessed? Yes.

But will I be blessed as abundantly as I could be if I let the Spirit guide me in wisdom’s paths?  To the most fertile places?  To the Promised Land the Lord has in store for me?

I believe the Spirit will whisper to each of us, no matter where we are on our journey, to guide us in wisdom’s path a path that will allow us to be blessed, prospered, and preserved if we choose to follow where it leads.