I recently learned that the word thesaurus originally did not mean a book of synonyms.

It meant a treasure house.

A storehouse.

A repository of valuable things.

That discovery struck me because I have begun to suspect that one of the things Jesus has been doing in my life since my born-again experience in 2015 is building a thesaurus.

Or perhaps more accurately, He has been building a whole WORLD-sized thesaurus.

My Jesus-Greg WORLD is becoming a treasure house of approximations.

Part 1: A Treasure House of Approximations

When I was young, I was given the traditional language of Christianity and the restored gospel. I learned words like Jesus, Christ, Redeemer, Savior, Jehovah, Messiah, Son of God, Counselor, King of Kings, Good Shepherd, Bread of Life, and True Vine.

Those names remain precious to me.

But over the years, Jesus has been quietly expanding my vocabulary.

Not replacing the old names.

Expanding them.

Adding layer upon layer of additional approximations.

In the Book of Mormon, when Ammon arrived among the Lamanites, King Lamoni mistook him for the Great Spirit. Ammon corrected him, teaching him that the Great Spirit was actually God.

In a sense, Jesus seems to have reversed that process in my own life.

I already knew the formal names.

Now He continually points me toward additional names, metaphors, stories, experiences, people, songs, artifacts, technologies, books, movies, memories, and symbols that help me recognize Him more fully.

The scriptures themselves operate this way.

Why did God give us Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Esther, Ruth, Job, Peter, Paul, Nephi, Alma, and Moroni?

Why not just one story?

Because human life comes in many forms.

Sometimes I am David facing Goliath.

Sometimes I am Job sitting in ashes.

Sometimes I am Joseph in prison.

Sometimes I am Peter sinking in the water.

Sometimes I am Alma the Younger needing repentance.

The scriptures form a treasury of stories that allow us to ask:

And then to proceed forward by faith.

This principle extends far beyond scripture.

Human beings naturally collect models.

We learn from parents. Teachers. Books. Movies. Friends. History. Science. Fiction.

We are constantly searching our internal thesaurus for approximations.

None of these are perfect matches.

They are approximations.

But approximations help us navigate reality.

They give shape to situations that would otherwise feel confusing.

They help us see through the glass a little less darkly.

And this may explain why Jesus has spent years teaching me things like Jesus Pillow, Jesus Nap, Jesus Shower, Jesus Bread, Jesus Table, Jesus TV, Jesus Mountain, Jesus Feet, and countless other strange little revelations.

At first these seemed unrelated.

Now I wonder if they are all part of the same project.

Perhaps Jesus is expanding my thesaurus.

Expanding my capacity to recognize Him.

Expanding the number of pathways that lead my mind back to Him.

Expanding the number of circumstances in which I can say:

Scientists eventually discover that one theory rarely explains everything.

Languages require many words.

Tools require many attachments.

A Swiss Army knife requires many blades.

Likewise, discipleship appears to require many approximations.

Many stories. Many metaphors. Many witnesses. Many names. Many treasures.

The ultimate purpose is not the thesaurus itself.

The purpose is recognition.

To increasingly discover that behind every useful approximation, every true principle, every lovely thing, every worthy story, every meaningful symbol, and every genuine treasure stands the same Person.

Jesus Christ.

The Master Thesaurus.

The Treasure House from whom all other treasures come.

Part 2: Additional Treasures Found In The Thesaurus

Once I began seeing My Jesus-Greg WORLD as a kind of Jesus-produced thesaurus—a growing treasure house of approximations, witnesses, metaphors, stories, artifacts, and recognition tools—a number of additional implications began to emerge.

Some of these insights are only partially developed in my mind. Others seem to be ideas Jesus has been quietly teaching me for years without my fully recognizing the pattern. Together they suggest that the principle of "thesaurus-building" may be much larger than I first imagined.

Perhaps the scriptures themselves are a thesaurus.

Perhaps creation is a thesaurus.

Perhaps the Restoration is a thesaurus.

Perhaps personal revelation is a thesaurus.

Perhaps mortality itself is a thesaurus-building exercise—a long apprenticeship in learning how to recognize Jesus through an ever-expanding collection of approximations.

The following observations are offered not as settled doctrine, but as exploratory notes from a disciple who increasingly suspects that Jesus delights in surrounding His children with treasures that point back toward Him.

Each of these ideas deserves its own chapter. For now, I offer them as ten additional treasures found in the thesaurus.

1. The Holy Ghost as the Search Engine

The existence of a thesaurus raises an obvious question. How does a person find the right entry at the right moment?

A thesaurus containing ten words is easy to navigate. A thesaurus containing ten thousand words is not.

If Jesus is indeed filling our lives with stories, scriptures, memories, experiences, songs, symbols, people, and witnesses, some mechanism must exist for retrieving the right approximation at precisely the right time.

I suspect this is one of the functions of the Holy Ghost.

The Spirit often appears less interested in delivering entirely new information than in bringing forgotten information back into view. A scripture surfaces unexpectedly. A memory suddenly becomes relevant. A conversation from years ago acquires new meaning. A song lyric unexpectedly becomes an answer to prayer.

The treasure was already present.

The story was already stored.

The witness had already been collected.

Yet until the Spirit highlighted it, the treasure remained hidden among thousands of other treasures.

Jesus spends years helping us build the library.

The Holy Ghost helps us locate the correct volume.

Perhaps revelation is often less about receiving new treasures than about discovering which treasure is needed today.

2. The Difference Between an Approximation and an Idol

One danger accompanies every approximation.

A person can mistake the pointer for the destination.

This problem appears throughout scripture. God gives symbols. People eventually worship the symbols. God gives rituals. People begin trusting the rituals instead of God. God gives institutions. People begin serving the institution rather than the divine purpose behind it.

The same danger exists within a personal thesaurus.

A mountain may remind me of Christ.

A song may remind me of Christ.

A movie may remind me of Christ.

A treasured memory may remind me of Christ.

None of these things are the problem.

The problem begins when the approximation becomes more important than the reality it was meant to reveal.

Healthy approximations remain transparent.

They function like windows.

An idol functions like a wall.

The window allows me to see Christ more clearly.

The wall prevents me from seeing beyond itself.

This may be one reason Jesus continually expands our vocabulary. By providing many approximations rather than a single approximation, He helps prevent us from confusing any one symbol with the infinite reality it merely reflects.

3. Parables as Deliberate Thesaurus-Building

Jesus rarely taught through abstract theological definitions.

Instead, He taught through seeds, lamps, vineyards, pearls, shepherds, wheat, tares, fishermen, weddings, coins, fathers, sons, and servants.

Viewed through this lens, Jesus appears to have been deliberately expanding the vocabulary of His disciples.

Rather than defining the Kingdom of God once and for all, He supplied dozens of approximations.

Each parable illuminated a different facet of reality.

Each story created another pathway toward understanding.

No single parable captures the Kingdom.

The mustard seed does not exhaust it.

The pearl of great price does not exhaust it.

The prodigal son does not exhaust it.

The laborers in the vineyard do not exhaust it.

Together, however, they begin creating a network of approximations capable of conveying something larger than any single story could communicate.

Every parable became another entry in the thesaurus.

Every entry increased the likelihood that one day a listener would encounter a circumstance and think:

4. Creation as a Vocabulary of Christ

The scriptures repeatedly suggest that creation itself testifies of God.

Mountains. Rivers. Stars. Trees. Bread. Light. Seeds. Storms. Shepherds. Lambs.

The world is full of teaching devices.

Perhaps creation functions as one giant visual thesaurus designed by God Himself.

When Jesus wished to teach growth, He pointed toward seeds.

When He wished to teach trust, He pointed toward birds.

When He wished to teach divine provision, He pointed toward lilies.

Creation appears packed with analogies.

It is as though the Father has embedded lessons everywhere.

The disciple gradually learns that the world is not merely material.

It is instructional.

A mountain may teach stability.

A river may teach persistence.

A sunrise may teach hope.

A harvest may teach patience.

Creation becomes a vast vocabulary through which God speaks.

Eventually a person begins walking through the world differently.

Nothing is merely scenery anymore.

Everything becomes a possible lesson.

Everything becomes a possible witness.

Everything becomes another word in the language of Christ.

5. Personal Revelation as Vocabulary Expansion

Most revelation is not merely information transfer.

It is vocabulary expansion.

Jesus gives a disciple a new way to see.

A new way to understand.

A new way to recognize Him.

One person's revelation may involve a scripture.

Another person's revelation may involve a failed business.

A difficult marriage.

A health crisis.

A conversation.

A dream.

A song.

A child.

The specific event matters less than the resulting expansion of understanding.

The revelation creates a new entry in the person's personal thesaurus.

That entry becomes available forever after.

Years later, the lesson may return in a completely different context.

The person recognizes the pattern.

Recognition produces wisdom.

This helps explain why Jesus teaches His children so individually.

He is not merely transmitting facts.

He is building customized vocabularies.

Every disciple receives different experiences because every disciple requires different entries.

Yet all the entries ultimately point toward the same destination.

More understanding. More trust. More recognition. More Jesus.

6. Why Different People Need Different Approximations

God teaches people differently because people are different.

A fisherman sees things an engineer does not.

An artist sees things a scientist does not.

A mother sees things a bachelor does not.

A farmer sees things a programmer does not.

The same Christ reaches all of them.

Yet He often speaks through different symbolic languages.

To a shepherd, He may appear as the Good Shepherd.

To a builder, He may appear as the Chief Cornerstone.

To a physician, He may appear as the Great Physician.

To a counselor, He may appear as the Wonderful Counselor.

To a weary soul, He may appear simply as Rest.

This diversity should not surprise us.

If Jesus is infinite, then countless valid approaches may point toward Him.

The mistake is assuming that our preferred approximation must be everyone's preferred approximation.

God seems remarkably comfortable speaking many languages at once.

The important thing is not whether people use identical words.

The important thing is whether the words are helping them recognize Christ.

The thesaurus expands because the audience expands.

7. The Infinite Nature of Christ (The Good NEWS Keeps Coming)

No finite collection of names can fully capture an infinite being.

No title is sufficient.

No doctrine is complete.

No story is exhaustive.

No metaphor can contain Him.

This reality may explain why scripture continually introduces additional names and titles for God.

This is why the gospel is inextricably tied to NEWS (Good News). Every day a new name for Jesus can be revealed.

Redeemer. Savior. Creator. Judge. Advocate. Friend. Bridegroom. Shepherd. King. Lamb. Light. Bread. Vine. Rock.

Each title reveals something.

None reveals everything.

Every approximation contributes.

None concludes.

The disciple gradually learns to appreciate the limitations of language itself.

Words point.

Words indicate.

Words approximate.

But God exceeds all descriptions.

The more a person learns about Christ, the more they realize how much remains unknown.

Paradoxically, this realization often increases faith rather than diminishing it.

An infinite Christ should require an infinite thesaurus.

The growing number of approximations is not evidence of confusion.

It is evidence of abundance.

8. The Restoration as Thesaurus Expansion

The Restoration can be viewed as a dramatic expansion of the treasury of witnesses available to God's children.

The Bible remained.

Then came the Book of Mormon.

Then modern revelation.

Then temples.

Then additional prophetic teachings.

The witness multiplied.

The vocabulary expanded.

The Restoration did not erase previous treasures.

It added to them.

The Lord's answer appears to be:

This pattern resembles thesaurus-building.

God adds witnesses.

Adds perspectives.

Adds examples.

Adds stories.

Adds ordinances.

Adds understanding.

Adds NEWS.

The Restoration becomes less about replacing old truths and more about increasing the number of ways people can recognize and understand Christ.

The treasury grows.

The witness deepens.

The recognition expands.

9. Collecting Treasures vs. Hoarding Information

There is an important distinction between collecting treasures and hoarding information.

A person can accumulate endless facts about Jesus without actually coming to know Him.

Information alone does not transform.

Recognition does.

The purpose of a thesaurus is not accumulation.

It is usefulness.

Likewise, the purpose of spiritual treasures is not ownership.

It is relationship.

Every story.

Every scripture.

Every symbol.

Every revelation.

Every witness.

Every approximation ultimately asks the same question:

If not, the treasure remains largely unopened.

The value lies not in possessing the entry but in understanding what it points toward.

The goal is not becoming an expert collector.

The goal is becoming a disciple.

10. The Final Recognition Theme

Perhaps mortality itself is one long recognition exercise.

Perhaps the purpose of life is not simply learning facts about God but gradually learning how to recognize Him.

At first we recognize Him only in obvious places.

Then we begin seeing Him in scripture.

Then in prayer.

Then in service.

Then in suffering.

Then in beauty.

Then in unexpected people.

Then in ordinary moments.

Then in places we never expected to find Him.

Over time the thesaurus grows.

The vocabulary expands.

The collection of approximations multiplies.

The disciple slowly becomes capable of recognizing Christ in more and more situations.

Perhaps this is one meaning of spiritual maturity.

Perhaps this is one meaning of discipleship.

Perhaps this is one meaning of eternal life.

To increasingly recognize the One who has been present all along.

And perhaps the culmination of the entire process occurs when the need for approximations finally ends.

When the symbols are no longer necessary.

When the parables have done their work.

When the witnesses have completed their assignment.

When we no longer see through a glass darkly.

When, at last, we recognize Him face to face.