Moses and the brazen serpent...

Do you ever have something that's been on your mind?  Or something you've been pondering in your heart?  Lately the thing in my mind &/or heart has been Moses and the brazen serpent.

We get the weekly emails from Joseph Budd who is currently serving a mission in Finland.  One week he said something that really hit me.  He was asking his family to write him more letters.  Life as a missionary is hard and those letters are such a great support.  He asked his family if they hadn't been sending him letters because it was so easy and if it were something more complicated, would they do that complicated thing to support him?  He likened the situation to Moses and the brazen serpent.  Are you familiar with that story?

While Moses was leading the children of Israel across the desert, many were bit by poisenness serpents.  Moses, being the prophet, had the cure.  He had a staff with a brazen serpent that he lifted up and all the people had to do to be cured was to look.  Just look.  And because it was such a simple thing, many people didn't believe and they wouldn't even look.  Just a look...and they would've been cured.

This story reminds me of Naaman.  Naaman was told by the prophet to bathe in the River Jordan seven times to be cured of his leprosy.  And because it seemed like such a simple solution, he almost didn't do it.  Then, one of his servants asked him, if he would do it if it were a more complicated thing.  So he went to Jordan River and bathed seven times.  He was cured.

As a missionary, I cannot tell you how many times I shared with people the story of Joseph Smith and the book of Mormon and the people felt something.  I'd be so excited as a missionary to share these things because they meant so much to me.  They changed my life and have increased my faith in Jesus Christ.  We told them as missionaries that we didn't want them to take our word for it that these things we were telling them were true.  We wanted them to find out for themselves!  We told them if they would just read and pray to know if it were true, the Holy Ghost would witness to them that it was true.  But the majority of the people would never do any of these things.  And it was so simple.  Read.  Ponder.  Pray.  And the Lord would do the rest!    

But before I make myself sound like I'm perfect at the simple things...let me also say that when I read this letter, I realized that I too was slackening on some of the "simple" things that I should be more diligent at.

The law of the harvest is such an interesting thing.  To get the fruit, you have to plant the seed...and you have to water the seed...and pull out weeds...etc.  All such simple things.  Simple things that need doing over a period of time.  Small and simple steps.  But the Lord has always said, "By small and simple means are great things brought to pass".  So I've been striving to do more of the "simple" things.  And I challenge you to do the same.  What's on your "simple" list?  What things haven't you been doing because it seems like it's such a simple solution to the complicated problems you have?