Thanks Giving

As King Benjamin grew old and knew his time on earth was about to end, he gathered his people together to give them his final counsel and advice. But before he spoke to them he prepared their hearts to receive his teachings. He had them observe the sacrificial rituals that were part of the Law of Moses and then  he had the people “give thanks to the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and had appointed just men to be their teachers, and also a just man to be their king, who had established peace in the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments of God, that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men” (Mosiah 2:4).

This sentence contains a lot of phrases that describe God. They are phrases of praise and love, but they can be removed from the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence, and in this case, there are so many they actually make you forget what the sentence is all about. So lets take them out and see what the sentence says. The people gave “thanks to the Lord their God . . . that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men.”

In D&C  130:20-21 we are taught that “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated-- And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” King Benjamin knew that giving thanks was the law that would bring the people the blessing of love.  Likewise, as you and I give thanks we will be “filled with love towards God and all men.”

picture: http://www.silhouettesclipart.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/thanksgiving-cornucopia-clip-art.jpg