The barrier of busyness
A significant cause of satiation in seeking knowledge from God is the busyness of modern life. The pursuits of modern people prioritize what has no eternal worth over what does.9 Few understand that their misprioritization isn’t a matter of church versus the rest of life, but the failure to apply God’s character to the daily tasks in life. God didn’t give us the requirement to earn our daily bread and raise children simply as a constant overhead cost to compete with church. Instead, our temporal lives are meant to be a learning lab where we consistently discover and apply the will of God in practical ways. The problem isn’t just that people don’t think about God in their daily lives,909 but that they don’t bother thinking at all. They fill their lives910 with activities that fail to advance their eternal purpose as much as other things would—or, in some cases, fail to advance their eternal purpose at all. In fact, many intentionally overburden themselves in order to have an excuse not to think about their lives or feel guilty about doing less than the best they could. These are problems with dire consequences that the Lord expressly warned against.911 It is vital that you think intentionally about how you spend your resources, prioritize what has the greatest longterm effect, and delete from your life anything that does not provide greater benefit than cost.912
Footnotes
- 1. Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough! For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. (2 Nephi 28:29-30) ↩
- 2. And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. (Alma 12:11) ↩
- 3. O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it. (2 Nephi 9:20) ↩
- 4. He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him.... (2 Nephi 26:24) ↩
- 5. But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. (2 Nephi 32:9) Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day. (Alma 37:37) ↩
- 6. Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. (2 Nephi 32:3) ↩
- 7. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6) ↩
- 8. Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. (Helaman 12:6) ↩
- 9. Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness. (2 Nephi 9:51) ↩