This morning I was studying out of Preach my Gospel and there was a scripture study question asking how the Lord wants us to approach gospel study. It gave several scriptures as references. One was from 2 Nephi 32:3.

Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

It is really interesting to me that Nephi chose to compare studying the scriptures to a feast. My first thought, and frankly the thought I have had my whole life, is to compare studying the scriptures to a TEENAGER thanksgiving feast. Let me explain.

A TEENAGER thanksgiving feast is one where there is tons of food and you eat until you are SICK. I realized this morning for the first time that this may not be exactly what the Lord had in mind. Now that I am approaching middle age, I can’t eat like I used to… and if I do there are consequences for my body, both short and long term.

I belive the Lord was alluding to an adult version of feasting… a moderated one1 in which we realize with an eye of vision that there is TONS of spiritual food in the scriptures, and we don’t have to eat till we are sick. This spiritual feast we have before us is not going to go bad, and is not going to be cleared before we get back to it. It will be there tomorrow, just as perfect and ready for us to eat as it is now. So…

Take your time. Delve into the scriptures. Really savor the food so you don’t get too full. Eat until you are full, realizing that there is PLENTY of food for me and that there will be tomorrow. But don’t eat to excess… remember, slow and steady wins the course.

Footnotes:
  1. Topical Guide: Temperance; D&C 59:20; D&C 89:11-12[↩]