But they had also seen some amazing miracles!

The Lord had just saved them from an attack from their enemies in a dramatic way.

However, immediately after being saved…

The Israelites started to complain.

All of this wandering was taking so long!

There wasn’t any good food to eat!

God was going to let them die in the wilderness! 

In response to their ingratitude, selfishness, and pride, the Lord sent a plague of fiery serpents to the Israelites, killing many of them.

They pleaded with their prophet Moses to find a way to get rid of this plague. 

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’” (Numbers 21:8, ESV)

The Israelites learned that the solution to their bitterness and ingratitude was to look simply look.

They had to look to a serpent made of brass.

Just like the Israelites and their brass serpent, we, too, can find a simple solution to our sins of ingratitude, impatience, and pridefulness.

We need to look to Jesus!

Even when we are tempted to murmur and complain about all the ways He has left us, and life is miserable…

The answer is to simply turn toward Jesus and let Him take away the sting of our problems.

Jesus as “the brass serpent” is one of the many symbols we will cover in the Old Testament this year, and I’m so grateful for this powerful reminder!

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post One symbol of Christ  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

It’s a question we’ve all asked.

While I think pride is absolutely a big factor, Alma tells Helaman about one big sin to look out for:⁣

“. . . do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way.” (Alma 37:46)

Saying my prayers every day should be something pretty easy. ⁣

It’s just a few minutes in the morning, a few minutes at night, and all I need to do is turn my attention to God for a bit. ⁣

That sounds so simple!⁣

And yet, those slothful temptations seem to pile on. ⁣

”I’m too tired right now – I’ll do it later.”⁣

“I can’t focus right now.”⁣

“It’s not that big of a deal to skip it tonight.”⁣

And slowly, I’ve built up an arsenal of excuses for not doing the most simple thing I can do–

A task that involves zero supplies and only my mind communing with God for a few short minutes. ⁣

When it is so easy to do something that will build up our testimony, strengthen our connection with God, bring our families closer together…

Then it is also really easy to not do it. ⁣

So I think it’s good to reflect.

What slothful excuses are keeping me from doing the simple things right now?

And when I start to break down that wall of excuses, I realize yet again how simple it is to connect with heaven.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Too tired to pray  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I had been asked to play a musical number for the Saturday evening session of our stake conference.

And I was SO NERVOUS.

I knew this hymn arrangement super well and it was completely memorized.

But I kept messing up!

Each time I played a wrong note, I would pull the music out and practice that part over and over.

And then I would completely butcher another part that I had always played perfectly.

I focused on each individual note so hard.

Day after day.

The stake conference was approaching and I was honestly embarrassed. I thought I had this piece memorized flawlessly, and yet here I was thinking about every single note and messing up in random spots.

As I sat down discouraged to practice one last time, a thought came to my mind:

“Invite the Spirit and play your testimony.”

I put the music away, closed my eyes, and started playing.

But this time, I tried not to think about any notes.

I just thought about the message and the spirit that I hoped to share as I played.

And I played it perfectly.

I realized later that I played it perfectly BECAUSE I had stopped worrying about all the details.

I had stopped harping on every single mistake that I made and making it a super big deal.

I just got to the core of why I love to play the piano— because it helps me bear my testimony of God and light and hope.

Isn’t this true in regular life, too?

When I try to follow all the rules perfectly and feel overwhelmed with guilt every time that I mess up, then I notice even more mistakes.

Things get even worse. Even messier. I can’t fix it all.

I need a good dose of that simple but powerful lesson Moses tried to teach the Israelites with a brass serpent:

“Every one that… looketh upon it, shall live.” (Numbers 21:8)

It’s too simple.

We just have to love Jesus and God and invite the Spirit to be with us.

That’s all.

And when we do those things with our whole souls, all the rest of the little details fall into place.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Messing up on the piano first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.