Gathered into Garners

I just had an amazing aha moment!

“Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted” (Alma 26:5).

I always thought the garners were just a continuation of the metaphor, the place where sheaves are naturally placed, because you don’t want to waste what has been gathered. Elder Bednar tells us “the garners are holy temples.”[1] This brings such amazing meaning to the next verse!

“Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them” (Alma 26:6).

I pulled out my scriptures to read the next verse:

“But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day.” (Alma 26:7) [2]

Although this was referring to new converts, it applies to us all. When we gather in the temples, we make and keep sacred covenants, which protect us from the storms at the last day. We are in those storms. Living our covenants will not only protect us from the storms, but will put us in “the hands of the Lord of the harvest . . . and he will raise [us] up at the last day.”

In my Book of Mormon class, the manual gave the definition of “listeth” - meaning leaning or tilting to one side or another. It said to think of ourselves as the employee of whomever we follow. Thinking of leaning towards one side, one wouldn’t necessarily think they were employed by that being; however, they are also leaning away from the other.

Making and keeping covenants, leaning towards the Lord, will help to prevent ourselves from being “driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry [us].”

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[1] Honorably Hold a Name and a Standing, David A. Bednar, Ensign May 2009

[2] The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ