Are you going back to fishing?

2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
3 Simon Peter saith unto the, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately;.. -John 21:2-3

After Christ's death the Apostles were faced with a difficult situation, they weren't quite sure what to do with themselves. It must have been an uncomfortable situation and so Peter did what most would do, go back to something that he understood and was good at. Unfortunately for Peter, and for us, those things that we are good at and are comfortable for us, will rarely help us or others progress toward Christ. That isn't to say that they are bad for us, but to come unto God requires us to get out of our comfort zone and do hard things. We cannot shy away from our commitments behind our hobbies and passions. All of us who have are or ever have been a disciple of Christ should ask ourselves, have we gone back to fishing? If so, what should we be doing instead?

If we have gone back to fishing, consider this invitation from Elder Hales.

"To Christians who have returned to their old, less faithful ways, consider the faithful example of Peter. Do not delay. Come hear and recognize the Master’s voice calling. Then straightway return to Him and receive His abundant blessings once again."

How do we become one with God?

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us..." John 17:21

How to become one with God the Father and Jesus Christ is simple in process yet difficult in application. It has two main steps. First, humble prayer, and second, sincere petition.

Through humble prayer we examine our souls and come to know ourselves, when we share this with God, we come to know him as he helps us with our imperfections and counsels us.

Through sincere petition we ask God for the opportunity to become one with him. As he has promised, he will always allow it to happen. However it is implied in a sincere petition that we will do what is then asked of us.

In essence it is the same process that we use to get to know anyone else. We talk to them, we share things about ourselves, and we do things together.

You have seen evidence, as I have, that we are moving toward becoming one. The miracle of unity is being granted to us as we pray and work for it in the Lord’s way. Our hearts will be knit together in unity. God has promised that blessing to His faithful Saints whatever their differences in background and whatever conflict rages around them. He was praying for us as well as His disciples when He asked His Father that we might be one. -2008–O:68, Henry B. Eyring, Our Hearts Knit as One

Neither Do I Condemn Thee

In most of my religion courses, the story of the woman taken in adultery is presented as yet another clever way of Christ turning the Pharisee's trap back on them. But there really is so much more to it than that.

Christ is Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. He gave Moses the law that commanded that an adulterer should be stoned, so why did he not agree to have the woman stoned? One reason that is often suggested is that the conditions of witnesses as required by the law were not satisfied, but Christ wouldn't have needed any witnesses to have known if the woman was guilty. In my personal opinion I believe the reason to be deeper than that.

The Law of Moses, was a law of Condemnation. Those that committed sins were condemned to pay full price. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life. But Christ came to fulfill the law of Moses and to teach the Gospel in it's fullness. This fulfillment of the Law of Moses and introduction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a representation of the satisfaction of the Law of Justice and implementation of the Law of Mercy done by Christ's Atonement.

I do not believe that Christ decreed that adulterers should be stoned in the Old Testament because he wished for them to die, rather the Law of Moses was a representation of the Law of Justice and was supposed to point the people towards the coming of a Savior that would introduce a new Gospel and the Law of Mercy.

Jesus could avoid condemning the woman and still uphold the Law of Moses because the proper witness conditions were not met, but I believe he chose not to condemn her because as stated in John 3: 17 "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.'