I love this quote from FHE: "Do not let the least important things get in the way of the most important things!" By Elder M. Russell Ballard.
Scriptures quoted from FHE were: Matthew 6:33 and 2 Nephi 2:27. I'll let you look them up as families and maybe have a discussion on them.
Pauline read the following story called "Satan's Meeting.
Satan called a world wide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, "We can't keep Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their scriptures and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their Savior. Once they gain that connection with jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, but steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ."
"This is what I want you to do," said the devil: "Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!" "How shall we do this?" his demons shouted. "Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their families fragment, soon their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!"
"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive...to keep the TV VCR, CD's and the PC's going constantly in their home a nd see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."
"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes,and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services, and false hopes."
"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their husband will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night. Give them headaches too! If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin to look elsewhere. That will fragment their families quickly!"
"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from Christmas. Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death. Even in their recreation, let them be excessive...have them return from their recreation exhausted. keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creations. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy!"
"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences. Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause."
"It will work! It will work!" It was quite a plan! The dewmons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get more busy and mor rushed, going here and there. Having little time for their God of their families. Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives. I guess the question is, has the devil been successful at his scheme?
You be the judge! Does "busy" mean:
B-eing U-under S-atan's Y-oke
Let us keep hold of our families and put first the things that are most important.
