Yesterday my husband and I recommitted ourselves to reading the Book of Mormon again from beginning to end. We’ve given ourselves until December 31st of this year, so we have a little over two months to do it. Remember that challenge from President Hinckley in 2005 to read or re-read the Book of Mormon before the end of that year? Well, we thought we would try that again this year. I can’t think of a better way to say goodbye to 2007.
Why am I posting about scripture reading in the technology category? Because I want to tell you that if you are a teen that prefers to read online text rather than print, then you are in luck. The Scriptures – Internet Edition is available here http://scriptures.lds.org/. The Old and New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price are all available along with study helps.
I’d like to suggest a couple of ways for you to utilize this wonderful resource: Make the Scriptures Page your homepage. This ensures that the scriptural page is the first thing you see when your computer boots up. To change your homepage, go to Tools, click on Internet Options, look for the tab that says Homepage, then copy and paste the URL from the Scriptures Page, hit save and you’re done. Personally, I can’t think of a better site to greet me when my computer loads up.
Now that you’ve set the Scriptures Page as your homepage, why not commit to reading a chapter or selection of verses every day. If the chapters are extra long, break it up and do it in two or three sessions. The most important thing is that you are reading and studying your scriptures. As . Tell yourself that you will not navigate away from the homepage until you’ve read from the Word, no matter how rushed you think you are.
Once you get into this habit, try challenging yourself to read a couple of verses each time you log on to your computer. I log onto my computer at least three different times during the day: once early in the morning, then again sometime between helping with homework and cooking dinner, and once more before I go to bed. That means that if I follow my plan I will have read my scriptures at least three times during the day.
I can think of two ways our lives will be blessed if we read our scriptures faithfully throughout the day. First, we will be spiritually uplifted throughout the whole day. This better prepares us to deal with the daily grind of the world that tends to weigh on us and drag us down. Second, frequent reading throughout the day will help us reach our goals of reading all the scriptures.
The online scriptures should by no means replace your print copy. It is just another resource that you can use in addition to what you’ve always used.
The scriptures provide us with ample opportunity to find out for ourselves what the Lord wants for each of us. The counsels, commandments, and promised blessings contained in the scriptures are meant for all of us who have chosen to follow our Lord and Savior. May I ask one more favor of you? Share your scriptures with a friend. Send them the link to the Internet edition of the scriptures.
As a teenager, you are at the crossroads of your life. The decisions you make now will impact the rest of your life. The decisions you make today will determine the man or the woman you will become. I pray that one of the decisions you make today is to take full advantage of the resources available to you to read and study the scriptures. I hope that you decide that you will start today to become the kind of man or woman who seeks the Lord first.
Mathew 6:33 “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
