Be in Tune with the Music of Faith: Study the Scriptures

"God loves all of his children. He wants all of them to return to him. He wants all of us to be in tune with the sacred music of faith ...

" We also recognize that many individuals are not in tune with sacred things. Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks of England, speaking to Roman Catholic leaders last December at the Pontifical Gregorian University, noted how secular some parts of the world have become. He stated that one culprit is 'an aggressive scientific atheism tone deaf to the music of faith.'

"The great introductory vision in the Book of Mormon is Lehi’s prophetic dream of the tree of life. This vision starkly describes the challenges to faith that exist in our day and the great divide between those who love, worship, and feel accountable to God and those who do not. Lehi explains some of the conduct that destroys faith. Some are proud, vain, and foolish. They are interested only in the so-called wisdom of the world. Others have some interest in God but are lost in worldly mists of darkness and sin. Some have tasted of the love of God and His word but feel ashamed because of those mocking them and fall away into “forbidden paths.”

Finally, there are those who are in tune with the music of faith. You know who you are. You love the Lord and His gospel and continuously try to live and share His message, especially with your families. You are in harmony with the promptings of the Spirit, have awakened to the power of God’s word, have religious observance in your homes, and diligently try to live Christlike lives as His disciples.

Clearly, a dividing line between those who hear the music of faith and those who are tone-deaf or off-key is the active study of the scriptures. I was deeply touched years ago that a beloved prophet, Spencer W. Kimball, emphasized the need to continually read and study the scriptures. He said: “I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns.

I pray that we will stay in tune with the music of faith. I testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ and the reality of His Atonement in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." (Elder Quentin L. Cook, Ensign. May 2012)