Picture No. 1 - Attends Church and Hears the Word. This fabric
swatch represents the member of the Church who attends church regularly
and hears the gospel preached there. They rarely/never read and never
study the scriptures on their own. The gospel appears to be rather
flat, one-dimensional, uninteresting and boring to them. There are gaps
in their understanding of the doctrines of the gospel (represented by
the holes in the fabric.) They do not see how the doctrines of the
gospel are woven together into one whole Truth. (The doctrines of the
gospel are represented by the threads in the fabric.) They see the
doctrines and truths of the gospel as being separate from each other
rather (represented by the stray threads around the edges of the fabric
and in the holes of the fabric) rather than building and weaving around
each other to form one beautiful whole Truth.
Picture No. 2 - Attends Church, Hears and Reads the
Word. This fabric swatch represents the member of the church who
attends church regularly, hears the gospel preached there, and reads
their scriptures regularly. They never study or fully feast upon the
words of Christ. For this member of the Church, the gospel is
interesting and has some color, texture, dimension, and pattern to it
(as you can see in this fabric swatch vs. the first fabric swatch.)
These members of the Church don't really have any significant gaps in
their understanding of the Gospel, but there are still some truths of
the Gospel that seem separate and apart from their understanding of the
Gospel. (Therefore, there are still some loose threads around the edges
of the fabric swatch. These individuals still don't completely see how
the truths of the gospel build and weave around each other into one
beautiful whole Truth.
Picture No. 3 - Attends Church, Hears, and Feasts on
the Word. This fabric swatch represents the member of the Church who
attends Church regularly and hears the gospel preached there. They not
only read their scriptures but also regularly feast upon the words of
Christ. This member of the Church has no gaps in their understanding of
gospel doctrines. In fact, they see the doctrines of the gospel as
building upon each other until they all come together to form one whole
beautiful Truth that paints a stunning picture that has depth,
dimension, vibrant colors, and patterns. Their view of the Gospel is
thrilling to them, it feeds their souls and anchors them firmly in their
faith in Jesus Christ and in His Gospel.
Picture No. 4 - This is a picture of the Allegory of the Fabric Swatches.
2 Nephi 31:20 teaches us that part of the process of obtaining
eternal life requires that we are "feasting upon the word of Christ."
If we do not feast upon the word of Christ, we cannot enter into our
exaltation. Consider the prominent role of the Iron Rod in Lehi's
dream. Without that Iron Rod which is the Word of God, we cannot find
the Tree of Life, partake of its fruit which is a representation of the
love of God which is manifest to us in His Atoning sacrifice.
2 Nephi 32:3 explains to us that the reason we are
required to feast upon the word of Christ is because it will "tell you
all things that ye should do". If we do not know the Gospel, we cannot
obey it and repeat the rewards of obedience to God's laws and
commandments.
Feasting upon the words of Christ is key to our
conversion--to our justification and our sanctification--so that our
garments may be made spotless in the atoning blood of the Lamb and be
worthy to enter the presence of the Father and the Son.
