God's scoreboard
As I have been pondering a statement made by someone recently, I have come to the conclusion that there is a misconception about deeds that we do in this life.
It is often represented is a phrase from a hymn, "do what is right". The phrase is "angels above us are silent notes taking of every action, then do what is right."
We get a picture from this that there is a scoreboard in heaven for each of us and that our assigned angel is marking down each good thing we do and every time we make a mistake or do something bad up comes a black mark on our heavenly scoreboard.
Then there is a scripture in D&C 127:4 indicating that if we do the right thing we will not loose our reward.
It is my feeling that the scoreboard is not kept in heaven, but within our souls. We term it our heart for want of a better term. Not the four-chambered muscular organ that beats within our thorax, but as the scriptures put it the fleshy tables of our heart.
As I have been pondering a statement made by someone recently, I have come to the conclusion that there is a misconception about deeds that we do in this life.
It is often represented is a phrase from a hymn, "do what is right". The phrase is "angels above us are silent notes taking of every action, then do what is right."
We get a picture from this that there is a scoreboard in heaven for each of us and that our assigned angel is marking down each good thing we do and every time we make a mistake or do something bad up comes a black mark on our heavenly scoreboard.
Then there is a scripture in D&C 127:4 indicating that if we do the right thing we will not loose our reward.
It is my feeling that the scoreboard is not kept in heaven, but within our souls. We term it our heart for want of a better term. Not the four-chambered muscular organ that beats within our thorax, but as the scriptures put it the fleshy tables of our heart.
The Egyptians represented this in hieroglyphics by a scale and the heart was placed on the scale and weighed.
Our spirit, or to be somewhat incorrect our souls, become the repository of our actions. When we do a good turn or help someone in need, it changes our heart and makes us more like Christ. If we do not continue to practice that virtue, then it is like the parable of the talents. It may be taken from us.
Because we are living, we have to make those virtues within us living as well.
The same is true of that evil that we do. It becomes part of us and of our character. Thus we are the literal scoreboards of our actions both good and evil.
A quote from Shakespeare might well fit here. “The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves…”
Abrahamic tests did not stop with Abraham. The prophet Joseph Smith said that every righteous person will undergo the Abrahamic test. This is an individualized challenge to each of God's children here on the earth to see if we love the Lord and no two challenges are the same for we are all different.
Thus, we are building our own house so to speak, brick by brick and we are the results of the experiences and deeds done in this life. We are the results our actions.
So, my beloved grandchildren act well.
Love,
Grandpa
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