President Spencer W. Kimball on the privilege of scripture study

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985) was ordained an apostle in 1943 and served as President of the Church from 1973 to 1985.

"Besides the almost constant encouragement and prompting which we receive from our present-day Church leaders, the prophets of old seem to cry out to us in almost every page of the scriptures, urging us to study the word of the Lord, the holy scriptures, 'which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.' (2 Tim. 3:15.) But we do not always hear, and we might well ask ourselves why.

"Sometimes it seems we take the scriptures too much for granted because we do not fully appreciate how rare a thing it is to possess them, and how blessed we are because we do have them. We seem to have settled so comfortably into our experiences in this world and become so accustomed to hearing the gospel taught among us that it is hard for us to imagine it could ever have been otherwise....

"In addition to our access to these precious works of scripture, we have, to an extent unknown at any other time in the history of the world, the education and the ability to use them, if we will.

"The ancient prophets knew that after the darkness there would come light. We live in that light—but do we fully comprehend it? With the doctrines of salvation easily within our grasp, I fear that some are still overcome with the 'spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear.' (Rom. 11:8.)"

- Spencer W. Kimball, "How Rare a Possession—The Scriptures," Ensign September 1976, pp. 2-5
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This excerpt comes from a "First Presidency Message" prepared by President Kimball, one of his truly classic articles. He shared his vision of the precious and sacred nature of the scriptures, and encouraged us to make better use of them in study and application. With a historical perspective, President Kimball warns us about the tendency to take our scriptural record for granted and thus fail to receive the benefits it offers to us:

In the 43 years since this article was published, it's interesting to note how much more our access to the sacred record has grown and improved. Most of us carry a complete copy in our pocket or purse as part of our digital devices; and we have the ability to search and study in ways that were not even dreamed of in past years. But again—do we take for granted that access and those abilities?? Or are we truly doing all we can to "live in the light"?

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2019)