Liken It Unto Us.....

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi reads the words of Isaiah to his brothers that he, "might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer," for he did, "liken all scriptures unto [them], that it might be for [their] profit and learning."

I love this scripture as it constantly reminds me as i am reading any scripture that there is a lesson to be learnt in applying it to my life and what Heavenly Father wants me to learn at this time. However i think that this can be taken a step further and be combined with the scriptures in Alma and Moses which say that, "all things denote that there is a God" & "behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me."

So together what we really have is a way to see God in everything and try to learn what that means for us each day. He is always trying to help us to understand life more and also give us peace and understanding. Today as i was slicing some bread i made for the kids yesterday i was "likening" the process of bread making unto me. If all things denote that there is a God and he is truly everywhere and all things bear record of Him, then so does my bread (not to say my bread is great tasting or anything, although my kids do enjoy it), but just the principle.

So what i thought about was how it applied to the process many of us go through each day or week or month or year as we experience trials and growth afterwards etc. With bread you take raw ingredients (us perhaps) that are not much of anything by themselves and then you combine them together (people being unified in purpose for a good cause or common goal). Life is truly easier with good family and friends to help along the way. Then you have yeast (perhaps us also...bitter, stinky, not "pleasing") that takes time (we must be patient with life) to dissolve when mixed with warm water (Christ is the living water) and then this becomes the liquid that allows us to become something quite magnificent along with the dry ingredients. You then have the kneading process which pulls and pushes the dough (our trials...painful yet necessary for us to become that magnificent thing - bread), and then you have to let the dough rise and "grow" in a warm place (ponder on the things in your life, reflect and learn the lessons and in the process grow as a person, a child of God). This whole process is quite messy too. There's usually flour everywhere, and all kinds of utensils and bags of ingredients, water on the counter etc. Life is not perfect or even clean. It is a messy thing, and that's perfectly okay. If someone were to try and make bread without dropping a speck of anything on the counter or dirtying the bowls or measuring spoons etc. then making that bread would not only be extremely difficult and really not fun, but really it would be impossible.

After the rising or growing period the dough gets baked at a high temperature, this is like being purified. Fire is a purifying process, we get "burned" before we are made pure and perfect and clean and good. This also is painful and just as the dough turns to bread and becomes something almost completely different so can we, as we seek to purify ourselves and allow the Holy Ghost, the Savior, and our Heavenly Father to purify us and sanctify us too. We become a new being. We are something good. Bread alone is extremely symbolic in the gospel. Christ is the bread of life and we partake of the bread for sacrament each week. Who do we seek to become like? Our Savior...Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." We can become like him, but yes it can be a messy and painful process along them way.

I am grateful for bread and for the lessons that life teaches us if we look for them. I am also grateful for General Conference that i was able to watch this weekend. I love the stories and lesson that other share that i am able to apply to me then grow from. I need to go and review some of them again and ponder on them some more and hopefully "rise" in the process and be closer to my Savior and Father in Heaven.


The delicious apple butter next to my bread is symbolic of the friends (like Teresa Turner, who brought and gave it to me) who make life sweet along the way and help ease the trialling process of life! ;-)

By the way Teresa's bread is much better than mine! ;-)