The Lead Casket

Ok, I just read Sarah's blog post about the lead casket in the Merchant of Venice and it got me thinking again.

The reason I brought up the quote about the lead casket ("Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.") is because I was applying it to real, pure, love. True Christlike charity requires us to give and hazard all that we have. It requires the sacrifice of all things. It requires us to give everything and take risks. It is not easy to let go of ourselves and trust others. Often I find myself struggling to perfectly trust even Heavenly Father with my life, my future, or those that I love. But it is through our sacrifices that we are able to become truly Christlike.

I love how Sarah applied the quote in relation to every aspect of our lives. Today in my Doctrine and Covenants class we talked about the Law of Consecration, which was in effect in the 1830s in Kirtland, Ohio and required the early members of the church to give up all of their substance and received in turn as much as their family needed while the surplus was given to the poor and needy. As I was thinking about it, I realized that the Law of Consecration helps us to be Christlike because it requires us to strip ourselves of pride, belongings, everything until it's just us and the Lord. Those Saints in Kirtland definitely understood what it means to give and hazard all he hath.

I was able to experience this, though not as extreme, when I served my mission. When I accepted the call to serve a mission, I gave up everything to the Lord. I left my job, school, family, everything behind. And not just the tangible things. When I was a missionary I did not hold a single thing back from serving with my whole heart. I consecrated my mind, my heart, my entire soul to serving Heavenly Father and doing the things that he wanted, not that I wanted, and by being the person he wants me to be. That was when I began to understand the love that He has for his children, not only for me but for those I was serving amongst. And that's when I really began to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and my relationship to him and the plan that he has for me.

And that brings me to Shylock's quote, "you take my life when you do take the means whereby I live..." It reminds me of the scripture in Matthew 16:25, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." It is when we consecrate our lives to Heavenly Father that we are able to find the life that he intends for us. And that is when we give our life away.