CENTRALIA STAKE RELIEF SOCIETY
BLOG
September,
2013
In the mortal experience of each of us—predominantly
during our teen years—most of us have returned home later than we promised or
beyond the time we were expected. Likely a parent or guardian had anxiously
awaited the arrival, then asked: “Where have you been?” That inquiry was
probably followed with other questions such as “Who were you with?” or “What
were you doing?”
Depending on the rules of the home, and the frequency
that this infraction had been committed, punishment or loss of privileges were
probably handed out. After a set period of time or completion of restoring
actions, we were granted release and allowed to return to our normal routine,
promising to never break the trust and rules again.
If we had followed the rules in the first place, we
would not have disappointed others, not destroyed trust, not been punished, and
not lost privileges. Additionally, we would not have had to work so hard and
long to be forgiven, and to regain trust.
At some point, each of us will have to stand before Our
Heavenly Parent and may be asked “Where have you been?”, “Who were you with?”,
“What were you doing?” Will our mortal
actions and associations allow us to feel comfortable with our answers?
He will know
where we have been, who we were with, and what we have done. But, with our
answers, are we sure His reply will be “Well
done, thou good and faithful servant … enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord”?
We know the “rules”. Those are the commandments we have
been given. We promised to comply to them. We have made covenants to
obey.
In the premortal existence, Heavenly Father presided
over a great Council in Heaven. There we learned of His plan for our salvation,
which included time on the earth to show our willingness to obey His
commandments. Those commandments were given for our benefit. They are loving
instructions for our happiness, and for our physical and spiritual
well-being.
Obedience is the first law of heaven. It is an act of
faith. We may sometimes be required to do things we do not fully understand.
As we obey, we increase faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection, and
freedom. It is yielding to the discipline of God’s will and His love that
brings us freedom and blessings. We may not always recognize those blessings,
but we have the Lord’s decree that we will be blessed; and this promise is
recorded in Doctrine & Covenants Section 130: “ … when we obtain any blessing from God, it is
by obedience to that law
upon which it is predicated”. (emphasis added)
By keeping his commandments, we prepare for eternal life
and exaltation. Just as we, at those times when we broke the curfew, may not
have understood, we sometimes do not know the reason for a particular
commandment. However, we show our faith and trust in God when we obey Him
without even knowing why.
Trusting Heavenly Father to fulfill His promise frees us
to obey Him without reservation. Ultimately, the greatest freedom that comes
from obeying our Heavenly Father is the freedom to enter His presence. The Lord
wants us to return to Him, and has given us the commandments and ordinances to
get us there. When we do not keep the commandments or the covenants, we stand
in jeopardy to lose that uttermost privilege.
When we broke curfew—or other rules—our parents doled
punishment and took away privileges, but we were allowed to work our way back to
regaining favor. When we have disobeyed or broken the rules of our Heavenly
Father, we have an advocate, our elder Brother Jesus Christ, who literally gave
His life to provide a way for us to gain forgiveness, to regain trust, and to
restore our privileges. Our third Article of Faith states: “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all
mankind may be saved by
obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel”.
(emphasis added)
Do you know where you are? Are you associating with the
right people? Are you doing good? Do you
need to make some changes? When obedience ceases to be an
irritant, and becomes a quest—in that moment God will endow us with power. It
is my prayer that we might all recommit ourselves to obey the Lord’s will by
living His gospel and keeping His commandments.
Sister Val Walsh
Centralia Stake Relief Society
Secretary
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