“Many Great and Important Things”

Commenting on the words of Isaiah, the prophet Nephi wrote:

Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!

For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

2 Nephi 28:29-30

And the prophet Alma taught the same principle in the city of Ammonihah:

He that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

Alma 12:10

Learning is the privilege of the open-minded. There is a human tendency to crave certainty, but supposed certainty can calcify our thoughts and prevent us from accepting new knowledge.

“We believe all that God has revealed,” wrote Joseph Smith, but then he added the present and future tenses: “all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God” (Articles of Faith 1:9).

President Russell M. Nelson reiterated this principle: “As the Restoration continues, I know that God will continue to reveal many great and important things pertaining to His kingdom here on earth” (“Go Forward in Faith,” General Conference, April 2020). More recently, he said, “The ongoing Restoration needs ongoing revelation” (“The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation,” General Conference, October 2021).

Those statements demand a healthy dose of humility. There is much that we don’t yet know, and even what we think we know must evolve as we gain new insight. Courageous curiosity, a willingness to confront hard realities, and the faith to ask for divine guidance are all hallmarks of true disciples.

Today, I will open my mind and my heart to new knowledge. I will keep my desire for certainty in check, and I will enthusiastically embrace new knowledge as God reveals it to me.