My current Old Testament progress:
First Samuel, Chapter 1
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Wow. Where to start!?
As I read through Judges, I just wanted to knock some heads together and tell the Israelites to wake up and worship God! They'd shape up for one righteous person, only to fall back to idol worship as soon as he or she died. What's the deal?
Then I remembered something that my husband had pointed out to me earlier. The Israelites only had the lesser Priesthood, the Aaronic Priesthood. While this Priesthood was sufficient for them to engage in their outward sacrificial ordinances, and follow the commandments of God, it did not allow them to administer in spiritual things, and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift is only bestowed by a holder of the Melchizadek Priesthood.
Now, I don't know about you, but I have a hard enough time keeping the commandments and doing all that I can do to follow Christ, and I have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to not have that influence in my life! All of a sudden, my understanding of the book of Judges is much clearer, and I can see, at least in a small way, why they continued to seek after false Gods. They were probably searching to fill an emptiness in their souls, and they went looking in the wrong direction.
How often do we do this?
I, personally, have often turned to the computer, TV, or food to try to fill something inside me that was lacking. Since my old, bunny-eared TV died, I've had a lot more time in the evenings (we no longer have the ability to view television), and I've spent it reading the Old Testament, the Ensign, and the Wilford Woodruff manual.
An article in the March 2006 Ensign really explained a lot about myself to me. It's entitled "Filling the Void," and I hope you'll read it. It brought tears to my eyes.
"How many wasted hours and years do we spend searching after things to fill our voids in our lives: riches, possessions, sexual gratification, food, power, popularity? All of these can elate our senses or bring excitement, but they also return us to a place where we feel even more wanting. Thus begin the addictions, for we can never fill the void through earthly means."We can never fill the void through earthly means. But how many people try? And how many problems are we dealing with, personally and as a society, because of this tendency?
"Through the hundreds of people I see each year in counseling who are suffering from pain, loneliness, and addictions, I have reached a new awareness that they are all trying to fill their void in ways that only tear them apart. The void cannot be filled by external sources but must be filled from within.
"The only way for us to fill the void in our lives is to come to know our Heavenly Father and His love for each one of us. That means to love Him enough that we want to do His will. Jesus said, 'He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him' (John 14:21). Christ is the bridge for us to return to our Heavenly Father.
"Jesus explained this to the woman at the well: 'Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life' (John 4:13-14)."
I hope that each of us, including me, will remember these words and this inspired counsel, and learn that when we're lacking something, we need to turn to God, for He is the only one who can fill the void in our souls. I've now learned this principle, and I hope I won't have to continue to re-learn it in different stages of my life.
Remember Victoria Anderson's wise and inspired words:
"Why does there sometimes seem to be a giant hole in our lives, even when we want to do what is right?
". . . I had lived with my Heavenly Father in the premortal existence. In that realm I was filled with His divine love for me as His daughter. When I came to earth, I left His presence, and a void was created. I felt the void was placed in my heart for my earthly journey so I would seek Him again. As I seek to know and love my Heavenly Father, the void can be filled."
