Our Father's Business
This week we spent quite a bit of time discussing aspects of Luke 2:49: being about "my Father's business." One of the recommended activities in "Come, Follow Me" was this:
What is the "Father's business?" (see Moses 1:39). What do we learn about that business from this story and from other things Jesus did and taught throughout His life? Consider writing down some ways your family can participate in the Father's business and placing them in a jar. During the coming week, when your family is looking for ways to do Heavenly Father's work, they can select ideas from the jar. Plan a time when you will share your experiences.
But what IS the Father's business? As we learn in Moses 1:39, the Father's business is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Obviously it was Jesus Christ's mission to accomplish this goal, but how could I possibly be of any use in that effort? It is such a lofty thing bringing to pass "the immortality and eternal life of man." Because of how overwhelmed I felt just reading and pondering on that idea - how could I help? what could I do? - this became the focus for my family.
We started off by doing the recommended activity, except instead of using a physical jar, I made a paper jar for our wall. For the activity we read both Luke 2:49 and Moses 1:39 and first discussed in what ways the Savior helped in doing the "Father's work"; some things that we wrote down on our jar were: service, teaching, ministering, showing kindness, administering covenants and ordinances, and performing the Atonement. After we did that, under each of the Savior's attributions we wrote down some things we could do that fell into those categories. For example, under "showing kindness" we wrote: express our love and give big hugs and lots of kisses; under " administering covenants and ordinances" we wrote: attend the temple, partake of the sacrament, and pay our tithing. The list goes on. We did it! We had filled our jar, and with things that (1) were just like what the Savior had done, and (2) were things we could do now. This simple activity had given me hope that we could be active members in helping with our "Father's business."
Our lessons, thoughts, and activities for the week followed up on what we had filled our jar with on Monday, and we were pretty easily able to tie in our primary topic of being an example. We talked about withholding judgment, learning to forgive, and continuing to learn and expand our minds and how such things can help us in our ministering efforts, personal testimonies, and becoming more like the Savior - who is the greatest example of doing the "Father's business." If we can become more like Him, the most loving, kind, humble person, we can truly help in "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." We may not see the results of our efforts immediately, but I know that we will see them in time.
I am so grateful that we were able to spend this last week discussing the "Father's business" and how
we can help bring it to pass, because this next week is all about finding Jesus and following Him. Now that we know more about who He is and what He is like, we can more easily find Him, learn from Him, and follow His example.
Last night we read 2 Nephi 31:10 and John 14:6, answered the following questions, and wrote some thoughts inside footprints:
This week's topics (Jan. 21-27):
What is the "Father's business?" (see Moses 1:39). What do we learn about that business from this story and from other things Jesus did and taught throughout His life? Consider writing down some ways your family can participate in the Father's business and placing them in a jar. During the coming week, when your family is looking for ways to do Heavenly Father's work, they can select ideas from the jar. Plan a time when you will share your experiences.
But what IS the Father's business? As we learn in Moses 1:39, the Father's business is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Obviously it was Jesus Christ's mission to accomplish this goal, but how could I possibly be of any use in that effort? It is such a lofty thing bringing to pass "the immortality and eternal life of man." Because of how overwhelmed I felt just reading and pondering on that idea - how could I help? what could I do? - this became the focus for my family.
Our lessons, thoughts, and activities for the week followed up on what we had filled our jar with on Monday, and we were pretty easily able to tie in our primary topic of being an example. We talked about withholding judgment, learning to forgive, and continuing to learn and expand our minds and how such things can help us in our ministering efforts, personal testimonies, and becoming more like the Savior - who is the greatest example of doing the "Father's business." If we can become more like Him, the most loving, kind, humble person, we can truly help in "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." We may not see the results of our efforts immediately, but I know that we will see them in time.
I am so grateful that we were able to spend this last week discussing the "Father's business" and how
we can help bring it to pass, because this next week is all about finding Jesus and following Him. Now that we know more about who He is and what He is like, we can more easily find Him, learn from Him, and follow His example.
Last night we read 2 Nephi 31:10 and John 14:6, answered the following questions, and wrote some thoughts inside footprints:- How do we follow Jesus Christ?
- Can we follow Him if we disobey the commandments?
Our focus this week is on following Jesus Christ (hence the footprints). I challenge you to read those verses and answer those questions for yourself. They may seem like simple responses, but as John Wooden said, "It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."
This week's topics (Jan. 21-27):
Come, Follow Me: John 1: We Have Found the Messiah
Primary Topic: I can return to Heavenly Father by following Jesus.
Weekly Challenge: Choose one attribute of the Savior, and strive to develop it this week.
Weekly Challenge: Choose one attribute of the Savior, and strive to develop it this week.
Please leave a comment as to how your week went, what you're looking forward to, or even a question you may have.
Comments
Post a Comment