My mom is a bottom-line kind of woman. She likes to know the point to what she is reading, hearing, thinking or doing. So much so that when she gets a new book, she reads the last page first, just so she knows the end before she starts.
When I was visiting my mom a few years ago I walked in on her reading the Book of Mormon. High-lighter in hand, she looked up and said, "I love the 'and-thus-we-see' verses. They get right to the point."
They other day I decided to look up all the "and-thus-we-see" verses in the Book of Mormon and I can see why my mother loved them. They get to the bottom line. In 18 verses they teach 9 important lessons. They teach the bottom line of the gospel - the Plan of Salvation.
1. All mankind are fallen and lost (Alma 12:22)
2. Men became mortal and subject to sin and their own will (Alma 42:14)
3. Sin brings inequality, misery & distance from the Lord (Alma 28:13, Alma 42:14, Alma 50:19, Helaman 6:35, Helaman 6:40, Ether 14:25)
4. God is merciful and just (Alma 50:19)
5. He is willing to help us when we come to Him (1 Nephi 16:29,Alma 50:19, Helaman 6:34, Helaman 6:36)
6. Bad things happen when we choose wrong. We lost His support and must experience the consqeunces (Alma 28:14, Alma 30:60, Helaman 6:34, Helaman 6:35, Helaman 6:40, Helaman 12:3, Ether 14:25)
7. Good things happen when we choose good (Alma 24:19, Alma 28:14, Alma 50:19, Helman 6:34)
8. This life is a time to use our agency to follow the Savior. (1 Nephi 17:3, Alma 42:4)
9. One of the most important things we can do is teach others about the plan and how to repent (Alma 28:14)
And thus we see that the bottom line - the moral of the story- the importance of The Plan of Salvation. Everything in the Gospel is a part of it.
How wonderful it is to have a Father in Heaven that created such a wonderful plan, and how wonderful it is to have a mother in earth that sees is so clearly.
