After a week of being sick and nights of no sleep,
I had firmly resolved not to go to church this morning despite some mild
congestion, which would have been no big deal. I really wanted just to sleep.
So, still wanting to keep the Sabbath day holy, I set myself up in the recliner
with The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos queued up in the DVD player. I
turned on my favorite segment called I am the Bread of Life, which is taken from a section of scripture in John 6.
The Savior taught his disciples some doctrine that was
difficult for them to understand. “Many therefore of his disciples, when they
had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?”
The Savior’s teachings were so incomprehensible to some that
“from that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
thou hast the words of eternal life.”
The Spirit hit me powerfully with Peter’s words. “Thou hast the
words of eternal life.”
In light of the recent events and new policies and the
uproar in the LDS faith, I had my answer. Even though I didn’t question the brethren’s
decision, I still prayed for the confirmation of the Spirit that this was
correct, that this was doctrine from our Father in Heaven.
“Thou hast the words of eternal life” Where else would I go?
Nowhere. Not ever.
With this confirmation, I rolled myself out of the recliner
and dressed for church. No tired exhausted body would keep me from filling my
cup today.
And boy did it run over.
Every single lesson and talk and comment strengthened my
testimony and imbued in me a desire to want to do better. To be better.
Sunday school’s lesson was on obedience.
I thought, how timely. Many of our confused brothers and
sisters need to hear this so they can fortify their testimonies. The brethren have
declared something that is difficult for many to understand, so this stood out
to me as a great example.
The
Book of Mormon tells us that Nephi and his older brothers received a very
difficult assignment from the Lord (see 1 Nephi 3:1–6). Nephi’s brothers
complained, saying that the Lord required a hard thing of them. But Nephi said,
“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the
Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a
way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1
Nephi 3:7). When we find it difficult to obey a commandment of the Lord, we
should remember Nephi’s words.
The scriptures tell us over and over again what we
must do. That’s why we should never put them down. I resolved in this moment to
increase my gospel study and reading of the scriptures. How important it is to
fill our minds with the truth of these words. How much confusion could slip
away if we just turned to the Lord instead of complaining or outright
exclaiming our vehemence! Make our matters, matters of prayer.
But my thoughts were, how great that we have a way
prepared. How amazing that we have a Father in Heaven who will not leave us
alone!
I must include the blessings of obedience.
The
Lord counsels us, “If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall
have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C
14:7).
The
Lord has described other blessings that will come to those who obey Him in
righteousness and truth until the end:
“Thus
saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me,
and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the
end.
“Great
shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.
“And
to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my
kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the
good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.
“Yea,
even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show
them, even the things of many generations.
“And
their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven. …
“For
by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them
the secrets of my will—yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear
heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man” (D&C 76:5–10).
I’ll
repeat what Peter said, “Thou hast the words of eternal life.”
Now I must comment on the Women’s Sunday School
class. The topic was pride, from a famous talk by President Ezra Taft Benson.
We talked about ways to overcome pride. Humility
is the antidote to pride. We can be humble by doing service, loving others as
Christ loves them, and showing gratitude. They all go hand in hand. The Savior
is our perfect example of these things.
Every night when I go to bed, I fall to my knees
and thank my Father in Heaven for my many blessings. I do this because I love
him. I do this because I recognize his hand in all things. I serve my family
and others because I love them. My Savior is my foundation, my motivation. He
is who I build my faith on.
If we hold to this, our testimonies will remain
strong.
I praised God the whole way home. I am so thankful
for my solid foundation. The words of a radio song helped me raise my voice in
gratitude. It's called "At the Cross."
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zev5tHjCB_s
Truly I am in
awe of my Savior. I owe all to Him.
So that’s why I
go to church every Sunday. To feast upon the words of eternal life.
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