Day 76 | Watch Ye Therefore

February 14, 2015 - WEEK ELEVEN

James Tissot, The Lord Wept, Brooklyn Museum, Puechased by public subscription.

DAILY READING

Matthew 24:32-51
JS-M 1:38-55
Mark 13:28-37
Luke 21:29-38
D&C 45:34-55
For Younger Disciples

CONSIDER AS YOU READ

  • In what sense are all things fulfilled in each of our lifetimes?
  • Why does God keep the time of the Second Coming secret?
  • How is Christ’s love for you demonstrated in admonishing you to “watch”?

SUPPLEMENTAL READING

“But of that day, and hour, no one knoweth; no, not the angels of God in heaven, but my Father only” (Matt. 24:36).
The value of this statement should not be underestimated, for it has helped God’s true followers in many generations discern false prophets who have attempted to declare the exact day or hour of Christ’s coming. The statement also warns every generation to be constantly alert for his coming, because no one knows the day of his appearance.
Nevertheless, the Saints, as “children of light” (1 Thes. 5:5) are expected to know the season or the generation of his coming. This truth is taught clearly by Paul, who wrote, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thes. 5:4–5).
Furthermore, although we do not know the exact time of Jesus’ second coming, we should be ever mindful that the time draws ever closer…. [I]n 1951, President Joseph Fielding Smith told the Saints at general conference: “I believe that the coming of the Son of God is not far away, how far I do not know, but I do know that it is over one hundred years nearer than it was when Elijah the prophet came to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple on the third day of April, 1836… [and] declared that by the restoration of those keys we should know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at our doors” (Donald W. Parry and Jay A. Parry, Understanding the Signs of the Times, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1999, 386–387).

The Gardener

FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES


THE TALENTS

QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES

  • What are some of the ways we bury out talents?
  • Was the third servant just being careful, or was he being lazy?