I once had a friend give me a little plant in a pot.
I watered it once.
And then I forgot about it and it died.
The end.
Was I shocked that it died? Absolutely not. Because I had done nothing to nourish that poor little plant.
I neglected it, and it died. No surprise!
Just like this short-lived plant, Alma asks us to consider if we are NOURISHING or NEGLECTING our seeds of faith.
From a logical standpoint, it makes sense, right?
If we do nothing to nourish our testimony every day, it will eventually wither away.
But when we are actually down in the trenches, living life every day, it seems easy to lose sight of this logic.
When we stop reading our scriptures because we are tired, and we are just a little too busy to pray, and church has been cancelled for forever so we haven’t had a lesson in a while…
We seem to get really down.
And we look for signs of God’s love.
But we can’t seem to feel the Spirit.
And so we throw our hands up for a bit and say there’s no use in reading, praying, or finding other good stuff.
And then we get even farther away.
If we let this cycle continue for too long, we start to think we never really had a good seed in the first place, because it’s obviously not bringing any good fruit.
But that’s when we need to really step back and consider: am I doing my best every single day in order to nourish my testimony?
Reading even when it doesn’t make sense? Praying even when we don’t feel a connection?
Watering the plant, even if it doesn’t immediately perk back up, but having faith that if we continue to add more every single day, life will come again?
We are either nourishing or neglecting. There is no middle ground.
And we have to play the long-game, because just like plants, testimonies take a lot of little consistency, and not grand gestures once a week.
So what can you do today to nourish? And what habits of neglect can you throw off?
Give the seed the time and attention it needs in order to prove it can bring good fruit.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
5 Responses
Thank you for sharing this. I’ve been thinking along the same lines. While I read your thoughts another scripture popped in my head, “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” It’s the small, seemingly unimportant daily things that are actually very important, foundational even.
I think I’m going to post “ We are either nourishing or neglecting. There is no middle ground. “ and “ So what can you do today to nourish? And what habits of neglect can you throw off?” ,from your post, on my mirror so I can see it each day and remember to do the small and simple, nourishing things.
Thank you
That’s a great connection between the scriptures! Sometimes it’s so hard to see that the little things are really adding up to something big. Thanks for commenting! <3
Thank you for your continued insight of the scriptures. ????
Thank you for reading! <3
I love this weeks reading, very simple yet profound. Nourishing my testimony is easy to let slip, just as forgetting to water my plants. But I feel the difference when I make it a priority, thanks for this beautiful reminder.