The other day, I asked my daughter if she wanted to come help me make a pan of brownies.
Her response, and I quote, was: “No thank you, I’m just going to watch some TV.”
I mean, points for politeness, right??
I mixed up the ingredients and put the pan in the oven.
When I took the pan out, Quin came running to my side. “I want to eat them! I want to eat them!”
I had to laugh as the story of the Little Red Hen popped into my head.
Remember that classic?
Where the little red hen decides to make some bread, but all her barnyard friends say “Not I” when she asks for help?!
And then as soon as the bread is finished and the smell fills the air, she’s got a long line of people who would like to help eat that bread.
Now, as a mom of a 3 year old, I certainly let Quin eat some of the brownies that she had not helped mix at all.
But in D&C 78:7, the Lord reminded many of the church leaders:
“If you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.”
In other words, if we want the reward, we need to put in the work.
Section 78 was received less than a month after that groundbreaking Section 76 vision where Joseph and Sidney learned about the celestial kingdom, and what it would be like there.
I’m gonna bet that there were some saints who were pretty excited for the celestial kingdom, now that they knew it existed, and talked about it a lot.
And so I can see the Lord needing to give some gentle reminders to the saints and their leaders.
We can’t just dream of our mansions above.
Instead, we have to wake up, and do something good.
We need to put in the celestial work.
So what celestial work can you do today?
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
4 Responses
I want to Thank You for sharing your gift and talent with us all. I look forward to your emails and the insight it gives me when I am reading the scriptures. Your stories and wisdom help me think and ponder more about the context and meaning of those inspired and revelatory words. Thank You!!!!
You are so kind! Thank you for saying that. It means a lot <3
I live these short thoughts. The only thing that is a little frustrating is that to continue to read the whole thought you have to hit a “continue to read” button. I always lose my place.
Thanks for that feedback, I actually recently started including the entire snippet in my emails because I heard this from lots of people! If you check recent emails, you’ll see the whole post right there in your inbox <3 hope that helps!