Deep Dive

Learning Truth for Ourselves

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." - Helaman 5:12

As a member of the Church, you hear certain scriptures over and over again throughout your life. One example of this is Helaman 5:12, quoted above. This passage has a clear meaning that can be discerned easily from reading it once, or hearing it hundreds of times. Simply build your life on Christ and use that to withstand temptations and pain from the devil. But with this and other oft-quoted scriptures, we lose the real meaning and fail to realize that maybe it's not so simple.

Studying the scriptures- and learning in general- involves a process and certain products. When we listen to a lecture, or to someone preaching about a verse, we usually don't engage in a personal process of learning, rather we just take notes on the result of the lecturers wisdom from their previous learning. To truly learn and engage in the process of learning we must make an active effort. In class last week, we entered this process by really studying Helaman 5:12 with a partner. We were able to look past the surface of the meaning and develop a deeper understanding of the verse. We were able to find many interesting things within this verse from just a few minutes of deep study. My insights might not seem so grand as you receive only the products of my learning, but if you try to engage in the process yourself you will find things applicable to yourself.

Concerning the verse, it stood out early that Christ was related to a rock, which is stable and firm against all. This fact seems obvious, but it really stands out that your foundation will not fail on Christ. Additionally, it says that "ye must build" and "if men build they cannot fall." The phrases "ye must" and "if" imply that this is our decision to make, to follow Christ or not. However, the verse refrences the devil's actions with "when," meaning that we will be tempted and tested, regardless of our decision. And the lengthy description of the devil's tactics reveal his multiple different efforts for our failure.

These are just a few insights from one verse. I encourage you to take whatever you are studying, and dive deep into learning that material. I know that we must build upon Christ and righteousness to be protected from the devil, and if we do so fully we cannot fall.