O be wise

One of my favorite scriptures is found in Jacob 6:12 - Oh be wise; what can I say more?

In October conference of 2006, Elder M. Russell Ballard gave a talk on this topic. He said:
Brothers and sisters, while I was studying the Book of Mormon recently, one of the teachings of the prophet Jacob caught my attention. As you remember, Jacob was one of Father Lehi’s two sons born in the wilderness after the family left Jerusalem. He was an eyewitness to miracles, and he also watched as his family was torn apart by disobedience and rebellion. Jacob knew and loved Laman and Lemuel as he knew and loved Nephi, and the dissension between them was intimate and personal. As far as Jacob was concerned, it wasn’t about ideology, philosophy, or even theology. It was about family.
The tender anguish of Jacob’s soul is evident as he expresses grave concern that his people will “reject the words of the prophets” concerning Christ and “deny … the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, … and make a mock of the great plan of redemption” (Jacob 6:8).
And then, just before he bids farewell, he speaks eight simple words that are the basic text of my message this morning. Jacob’s plea was “O be wise; what can I say more?” (Jacob 6:12).
Those of you who are parents and grandparents have a sense of what Jacob must have been feeling at the time. He loved his people, partly because they were also his family. He had taught them as clearly as he could and with all the energy of his soul. He warned them in no uncertain terms what would happen if they chose not to “enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow” (Jacob 6:11). He couldn’t think of anything else to say to warn, to urge, to inspire, to motivate. And so he, simply and profoundly, said, “O be wise; what can I say more?”

This counsel is profound and touching in many ways, but today I want to use that admonition to remind us all to be wise. I think it has particular significance to us who live in the latter-days. We've all been taught, warned, encouraged, reminded and admonished to do what we need to do to prepare ourselves for the future. And the future is here, right now.

Ten years ago, in October conference of 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley gave a talk at the priesthood session and here are a few quotes from that talk:
"...I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order...So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings.
We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing. A stumble in the economy in Jakarta or Moscow can immediately affect the entire world. It can eventually reach down to each of us as individuals. There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.
I hope with all my heart that we shall never slip into a depression. I am a child of the Great Depression of the thirties. I finished the university in 1932, when unemployment in this area exceeded 33 percent.
I repeat, I hope we will never again see such a depression. But I am troubled by the huge consumer installment debt which hangs over the people of the nation, including our own people. In March 1997 that debt totaled $1.2 trillion, which represented a 7 percent increase over the previous year.
Everyone knows that every dollar borrowed carries with it the penalty of paying interest. When money cannot be repaid, then bankruptcy follows. We are beguiled by seductive advertising. President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the April 1938 general conference, said from this pulpit: “Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 103).
No one knows when emergencies will strike...We are carrying a message of self-reliance throughout the Church. Self-reliance cannot obtain when there is serious debt hanging over a household. One has neither independence nor freedom from bondage when he is obligated to others.
What a wonderful feeling it is to be free of debt, to have a little money against a day of emergency put away where it can be retrieved when necessary.
I urge you, to look to the condition of your finances. I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.
This is a part of the temporal gospel in which we believe. May the Lord bless you, my beloved brethren, to set your houses in order. If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts. That’s all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable."

What good is it to have a living prophet of God if we don't listen to and follow what he says? Just think about the major events that have transpired over the last ten years. Here are a few I can think of immediately:
9-11-2001
war declared in Iraq which is still ongoing
AIDS spreading across the world leaving thousands of children without parents
major tsunami in Asia in 2004
category 5 hurricane Katrina and Rita off the golf coast
too many natural disasters and hurricanes to name across the world
the avian flu pandemic that edges closer every day

And this year already:
highest gas prices of all time
stock market crash
housing crisis and rising unemployment

Doctrine and Covenants 38:30 - ...but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear and check out this talk by President Hinckley on the same topic

I don't mean to be an alarmist or to over react. But please consider...are you and your family prepared? If so, then there is no need to fear. But if not, than we should be afraid! Really, really nervous because we won't be able to take care of our families and protect them and provide for them and we will be miserable needlessly.

Over the next few days, I will be sharing some of my best preparedness practices and ideas. I know many of you have great ideas and resources too and I invite you to share those. I know this much - I want to be able to sleep when the wind blows and I don't want to fear because I will be prepared. It's a topic that has weighed heavily on me for these past 10 years since President Hinckley spoke. I have tried to help others catch the vision and be better prepared, and I sincerely hope that something I share can be of benefit.