Daily Scripture Study

Since this scripture challenge started I've done well reading every single night. But I have to admit, last night I didn't really want to. I had gotten a little ahead of my personal goal to read six pages a day and thought missing one night wouldn't matter. My conscience got to me and I ended up reading, and was uplifted and I felt good about it. But I could feel my resolve to read every day slipping a little. Missing a day here and there would be no big deal, I thought. But then I heard Katie's speech today. Katie is a student in my BYU-Idaho public speaking class I teach. The assignment today was to give a brief manuscript speech on a religious topic similar to the messages in "Music and the Spoken Word." The title of Katie's speech :"Reading your scriptures daily is essential." Let me quote the comparison she made that, little did she know, I felt directed right at me.

"February 1, 2003 as the space shuttle Columbia was re-entering the earth's atmosphere, the shuttle disintegrated, killing all seven of it's crew members.

A space shuttle is designed very carefully to withstand the intense hear of re-entry. The body of the shuttle is made out of aluminum, which is very light weight and very strong. But this is a problem because as the suttle re-enters the earth's atmosphere, temperatures rise to over 3 thousand degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature too hot for the aluminum to remain strong.

To keep the aluminum from melting, the shuttle is covered with over 30-thousand heat resistant tiles. Because of those tiles the shuttle can pass through the earth's atmosphere safely.

After authorities investigated the space shuttle Columbia disaster they found that a couple of the tiles was damaged during lift off. Because of the damage to the tiles, the heat became too much for the shuttle during re-entry and the shuttle fell apart.

Out of the 30-thousand tiles, only two were damaged. More than 99.9% of the shuttle's tiles were still working perfectly. Just one weak spot was able to make the entire shuttle crumble.

So back to my uneven scripture study habits. Is missing a day here and there such a disaster? If I try to do my best in every other area won't I be OK? The answer is no! We need the protection of the scriptures in our lives daily.

1 Npehi 15:24 reads... 'Whoso would harken unto the word of God and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them away to destruction."

Katie's comparison hit home to me and made sense. As I researched "daily scripture study" on LDS.org I discovered a wealth of quotes from general authorities, not just suggesting it was a good idea, but saying we should do it, like this one from President Monson:

"Every holder of the priesthood should participate in daily scripture study. Crash courses are not nearly so effective as the day-to-day reading and application of the scriptures in our lives. Become acquainted with the lessons the scriptures teach."

I was struck with a valuable lesson today. The title of Katie's speech was true; Reading your scripture daily is essential.