Small and Simple Means

I have not posted for a long time.  My apologies.  I've been slacking off on a lot of things.  Sadly, this includes prayer and scripture study.  Lately, I feel that's all I've been hearing about in institute, church, and stake conference.  Read your scriptures and pray.  That's how you receive the influence of the spirit.  That's how you come closer to Christ.

In institute the other day we talked about the story of Naaman from 2 Kings 5.  He was a captain of the armies of Syria and he had leprosy.  A young girl who had been brought captive from Israel said that if only the prophet were there she could heal Naaman.  The king of Syria eventually heard this and told Naaman to go seek the prophet, Elisha.  Naaman did so, but when he came to Elisha's dwelling, only a messenger came out to him.  And this messenger told Namaan that Elisha wanted him to wash seven times in the Jordan river seven times and he would be clean.  Naaman grew angry that Elisha hadn't come out to meet him and that he was being asked to wash in that dirty river.  However, one of Naaman's servants asked, "if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?"  So Naaman humbled himself and did as the prophet instructed, and he was cleansed of his leprosy.
 
When we talk about following the prophet, I believe we think along the lines of "If he introduces a new doctrine or something, then we listen to him and make that change."  But he is rarely asking us to do anything big.  In fact, most of the time he's asking us to do the things we've been told to do our whole lives.  "If the prophet had bid thee to do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?"  Then why not when he says to read our scirptures daily and pray morning and night?  Why not when he says to pay our tithing?  Why not when he says to make institute a priority, and to serve missions, and to marry in the temple?  Why not when he tells us to write down impressions from the spirit?  By small and simple means are great things brought to pass (Alma 37:6).  God has shown us the way.  It is simple and it is doable.  I'm going to try harder to do the small and simple things in my life.