Obedience

Please consider the following scriptures:

“I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10).

“And again I say unto you, if ye observe to do whatsoever I command you, I, the Lord, will turn away all wrath and indignation from you, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against you” (D&C 98:22).

“And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; . . . and they who keep [this] second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever” (Abraham 3:24-26).

It should be apparent from these few references and my last writing entitled, “Eternal Progression,” that the key to our fulfilling our God-given potential is the obedience we demonstrate relative to God’s law i.e., His commandments, revelations, ordinances, covenants, judgments, etc. (Mormon Doctrine, 149). There is no compulsion that we be obedient. The gift of agency places the decision as to our relative obedience squarely within our power. However and absolutely, the degree of salvation we will enjoy in eternity will be commensurate with the degree of obedience we have demonstrated toward God’s law during this period of probation or our “second estate.”

Even at its longest, mortality is a brief period within the expanse of our existence. Thus we have precious little time, relatively speaking, to demonstrate our true level of commitment to God’s way. Under these circumstances, we ought to be asking ourselves on a regular basis if we are making the personal progress that is required? In this mode, we ought to determine those aspects of our life that are not consistent with our established goals and commit ourselves to taking specific, identifiable steps to make the necessary adjustments to our practices. In this manner, we will be able to bring our conduct into more conformity with our Heavenly Father’s expectations for us.

If we are seeking an important area of our lives in which we may be significantly astray of our desired path, one in which meaningful course corrections may require even extraordinary efforts, in my opinion we should revaluate the time we spend on the various forms of entertainment that occupy our time. The enticements of the world are mostly presented in the context of entertainment and its sensual rewards. Given that these rewards span the full gamut of possibilities from the heavenly to the hellish, our constant vigilance as to the sources of our rewards in fact is imperative. Substantive course corrections in our habitual entertainments may prove, given their nature, very difficult. However, remember that Lot’s wife was so taken by the enticing rewards to be found in the likes of Sodom and Gomorrah, that her reluctance to make a clean break with the unacceptable was cause for her destruction. Her experience should serve as a powerful lesson for us in our pursuit of truth and light. What a waste it would be if we were to give up our birthright for a mess of pottage.

Now a word concerning an activity that will enhance our ability to be obedient. For most of my life, the Church’s membership has been admonished by its leaders to study the gospel on a daily basis. During certain periods, I have successfully rationalized my way out of daily gospel study. However, with time may come a better understanding of what is truly best, and I now know that the advice I heard many years ago on this subject is valid. It is also clear to me today that the rationalization of true principles cannot withstand honest, gospel-based scrutiny.

The summation of this writing I will leave to the author of Ecclesiastes: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:3-14).