If Thine Eye Be Single
Book of Mormon Notes - Monday, January 29, 2024, 3 Nephi 13
This is one of my favorite chapters in all of scripture.
Essentially, the Lord invites us to seek Him and to glorify Him, as He glorifies the Father and does His will.
We had an interesting discussion during our priesthood meeting at church yesterday to which I believe this chapter provides an excellent response. As we reviewed President Eyring’s most recent conference address “Our Constant Companion,” the conversation turned to questions regarding promptings of the Spirit, following the Spirit, and the role of reason and choice in the process. It seemed to me that as the lesson progressed, more and more emphasis was placed on faith in Christ and the importance of the Spirit. As much as I believe this and know that this is the most important thing, it also seemed to me that some of the comments erred by opposing reason to faith instead of recognizing how the two are inseparable. There were great comments about gratitude and how we best grow into the principle of revelation as we serve others and seek to bless the lives of others. But it also seemed to me that it is an error to completely separate reason from faith.
Some in the group acknowledge the importance of studying things out in our mind as a prerequisite to revelation. One man shared a story from his life that perfectly illustrated this principle. Another man mentioned that the glory of God is intelligence, but that in his experience human reason is so weak and unreliable that we must rely on the Lord and His Spirit. Yet another man agreed and mentioned how the Lord often requires us to exercise faith without knowing all the reasons for what we do, such as when Adam was commanded to offer sacrifice. All of these things are true, but I still think that it is wrong to place reason and faith on opposite poles as if they were contradictory.
While it is true that our mortal minds are weak and limited especially in contrast to the glory, wisdom, and intelligence of the Lord, isn’t it also true that the Lord has blessed us with reason and agency and that He expects us, and encourages us, to do the best that we can with what we have been given? I absolutely agree that it is imperative for us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not lean unto our own understanding, especially because our own understanding is so small.
I suppose that my point is that all of this is reasonable. In other words, everything that we discussed during the class - the necessity of seeking the Lord and following His Spirit, the necessity of exercising faith in Jesus Christ and offering sacrifice even when we don’t understand all of the reasons for the commandment, the importance of gratitude and of service, and the acknowledgment of the limitations of our own reason - all of these things are supremely reasonable, especially in contrast to the suppose “wisdom” of the world.
These reflections build up to my point that at the pinnacle of Truth, the pinnacle of both reason and revelation, stands our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the glory of God. In 3 Nephi 13 the Lord teaches us many things about glorifying God and seeking the Holy Ghost as our constant companion.
As I see it, there are two contrasting and conflicting motivations for almost everything that we do. We can either seek the glory and the honors of men - in almsgiving, in prayer, in fasting, and in everything - or we can seek, like Jesus Christ, to glorify our Father in Heaven. In this chapter, the Lord teaches the Nephites who were gathered around the Temple in Bountiful, and He teaches us, to turn our hearts, our prayers, our thoughts, and our actions to Heavenly Father, and to do everything with an eye single to His glory, seeking to please Him. I think that this is also what President Nelson was teaching us in his most recent conference address “Think Celestial!.”
The Lord taught the Nephites, and He teaches us, to do alms and to pray in secret. The Lord taught the Nephites, and He teaches us how to pray:
After this amanner therefore bpray ye: Our cFather who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And alead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. (3 Nephi 13:9-13)
In the same talk, “Our Constant Companion,” President Eyring expounds upon this same principle of prayer:
If you want to receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost, you must want it for the right reasons. Your purposes must be the Lord’s purposes. If your motives are too selfish, you will find it difficult to receive and sense the promptings of the Spirit.
The key for me and for you is to want what the Savior wants. Our motives need to be driven by the pure love of Christ. Our prayers need to be “All I want is what you want. Thy will be done.”
Thus it is not accidental that Jesus Christ taught that the true manner of prayer begins and ends with a petition that the God’s will be done and that glory be given to Him. The LDS Bible Dictionary entry on “Prayer” further helps us to understand and apply this principle:
Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.
Elder Bednar recently taught a similar principle regarding prayer (see also here):
Most of your answers won’t be what you want when you want. People pray and it’s like they are shopping in the store. “Heavenly Father, I need this, and this, and this and this and deliver it by this time.” And if you don’t get this and this and this and this by the right time, then God wasn’t listening to my prayers. Yes, he was. You are not listening to the answers. Don’t expect him just to provide a delivery service. You don’t pray to tell God what you want or what you need. You pray to find out what God wants for you. Big difference. That will change what you pray forever. And many times what he wants for us, because it involves change in what we are and what we do, is not something we readily want to hear or accept. That’s one of the ways you know it is coming from heaven. If all of your answers are exactly what you want, you’re giving yourself some of those answers. He is not interested in making our lives hard. To become what we are destined to become as his sons and daughters doesn’t come by staying the same and it doesn’t come by not having to deal with some demanding and difficult things.
You pray to find out what God wants for you. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The key for me and for you is to want what the Savior wants. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
The Lord taught the Nephites at the Temple, and He teaches us what to treasure:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where amoth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;
But lay up for yourselves atreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (3 Nephi 13:19-21)
Where is our treasure?
The Lord then taught the Nephites at the Temple, and He teaches us, not only where to focus our hearts, but where to focus our eye:
The alight of the body is the beye; if, therefore, thine eye be csingle, thy whole body shall be full of light. (3 Nephi 13:22)
Cross reference Doctrine and Covenants 88:67:
And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
Cross reference D&C 82:19:
aEvery man seeking the interest of his bneighbor, and doing all things with an ceye single to the glory of God.
Cross reference D&C 4:5:
And afaith, bhope, ccharity and dlove, with an eeye single to the fglory of God, gqualify him for the work.
What does it mean to have an eye single to the glory of God?
That is something to ponder.
But the Lord has already given us a definition of His glory:
The aglory of God is bintelligence, or, in other words, clight and truth. (D&C 93:36)
(see also Mormon 8:15)
As in all things, Jesus Christ is our Example of having an eye single to the glory of God. As I mentioned in a previous post, Jesus Christ always seeks the will of His Father and glorifies Him in all things. He taught the ancient Nephites, and He teaches us to do the same.
Jesus then gave specific instructions to His 12 chosen disciples regarding their ministry. He taught them, and He teaches us, that Heavenly Father knows our needs, including our needs for food and clothing. He taught them, and He teaches us:
But aseek ye first the bkingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. (3 Nephi 13:33)
We know that these things that Jesus teaches are true by the power of His Spirit. His Spirit also strengthens us to live up to His teachings. The witness and guidance of the Spirit of God is the most important thing, and all of these things are also supremely reasonable.