Some food for thought, with a challenge

The first night I got back to NY from Christmas break I was struggled. I was homesick and I hadn't even been gone for 48 hours. After receiving a blessing from a couple of guys in my ward, I decide the best thing to do was look for comfort the only way I knew how, through prayer and scripture study. Which then lead to some personal revelation of what one of my goals needs to be this year. First I looked up faith in the Bible Dictionary and here are some of the things that stood out to me:

• "To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone. The Lord has revealed himself and his perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing.  Faith comes by righteousness.
• Faith is a principle of action and of power, and by it one can influence any number of circumstances when occasion warrants (Jacob 4:4–7). 
• All true faith must be based upon correct knowledge or it cannot produce the desired results. Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than belief, since true faith always moves its possessor to some kind of physical and mental action; it carries an assurance of the fulfillment of the things hoped for.
• The effects of true faith in Jesus Christ include (1) an actual knowledge that the course of life one is pursuing is acceptable to the Lord (see Heb. 11:4); (2) a reception of the blessings of the Lord that are available to man in this life; and (3) an assurance of personal salvation in the world to come. These things involve individual and personal testimony, guidance, revelation, and spiritual knowledge. 

And then I had the thought to look up "follow," which lead me to "sheep." 

• Shepherds still, as of old, go before the sheep, and the sheep follow, being apparently more or less attached to their masters, whose voice they instantly recognize.

One of my goals this year is to become as a sheep. I consider myself to be very much a leader, and I'm not going to illuminate that trait from my personality, but when it comes to trusting in Lord I have to do better. Our lives so easily can become cluttered, stressful, and then before we know it we are lost sheep, unable to hear our shepherd calling . This year I want to be able to "instantly recognize" my Lord and Savior in all aspects of my life, and not just at church or when I'm trying to find the positive. In order to do this I'm going to more sincere personal prayers and read my scriptures every day. I started doing these two things Sunday night, and I'm already benefitting, and far less stressed than I was before break. If you're reading this, I challenge you to do the same and make this your spiritual goal to instantly recognize Christ in all aspects of your life, to read, and study your scriptures and more sincerely pray.