Riches of Eternity

Today in church, we talked about so much! And I really wish I could put it all down on here and share it all with you. Maybe if I didn't wait two weeks to update... We won't go there...!

In Sunday School, we were talking about Esau and Jacob, particularly when Esau sells his birthright for pottage [refer to Genesis 25]. My first thought was wow, he sold this amazing birthright, the blessings that were in store for him, for food. Hunger is such a temporal appetite, something momentary, and carnal. Because he thought in that moment that satisfying his hunger was all that mattered and he'd trade the richest blessings for it. Obviously he didn't understand all that it entailed, but I'm not here to dwell on that.

But this caused some reflection in my life and on my past and situations I have been in. Is there a time when I have been so overwelmed with some worldly feeling, desire, appetite, that I thought was so important that by choosing to follow that appetite, I was in essence "selling my birthright?" Are we making decisions contray to the commandments, to counsel we've been given, that are causing us to give away our blessings and our promises from Heavenly Father? Because living in accordance to the Gospel allows us all the blessings of Heaven, and living in a way contrary, obviously we won't get those blessings. So comparing our lives to Esau, are we selling our birthrights for some simple pleasures of this life?

In relation to this I stumbled upon this scripture as a reference to the Hymn "Count Your Blessings." It's found in D&C 78:17-18:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children,
and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings
the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless,
be of good cheer, for I will lead you along.
The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours,
and the riches of eternity are yours.

The kingdom is ours. The blessings are ours, the riches of eternity ! We can't even begin to understand that. It even says, we cannot understand the great blessings that our Heavenly Father has for us. This is what we give up; we give up small parts of these blessings, of the kingdom, the riches of eternity, anytime we follow Satan. We need to remember now what we are striving for. We need to remember so we have the strength to choose the right when everything around us is screaming to choose darkness. Remember who we are, children of our Heavenly Father, who is waiting, patiently, lovingly, to give us all He has. His Kingdom. Countless blessings. The Riches of Eternity.