Living by Every Word
That Proceeds from the Mouth of God
Joseph Fielding Smith
August 17 by Cynthia
Myers
Sister Myers
started her lesson out by telling a story about her cousin Emily. She said her
cousin wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. She was always doing things
without completely thinking them through. She gave one example of Emily taking
a trip to Arizona and she wanted to take a different route“
She looked at a map quickly and decided what roads to take. As she
drove this route that she had picked she ended up in California. She didn’t plan
on going through California, but somehow she ended up there. She eventually got
herself to Arizona. It took her 8 hours longer than she planned. Sister Myers
related this to us: When we don’t follow
God’s plan and keep his commandments we get lost and take a different road. It doesn’t mean we won’t make it back to our
Heavenly Father. We might get lost and make the road twist and turn a bit more.
This making our lives harder than they need to be.
President Smith said “The supreme act of worship is to keep the
commandments, to follow in the footsteps of the Son of God, to do ever those
things that please him.”
“I
am seeking after my salvation,” President Joseph Fielding Smith declared, “and
I know that I can find it only in obedience to the laws of the Lord in keeping
the commandments, in performing works of righteousness, following in the
footsteps of our file leader, Jesus, the exemplar and the head of all. President
Smith once shared an experience that illustrated the change of heart that can
come to a person who heeds this warning call:
In addition to seeking his own salvation,
President Smith worked diligently to help others do the same. Elder
Francis M. Gibbons, who served as a secretary to the First Presidency,
observed that President Smith “saw it as his duty to raise a warning voice when
the people began to drift away from the path marked by the scriptures. And he
had no intention to abandon that duty, regardless of what anyone said. That
speaking out made him unpopular in some circles seems not to have had any
deterring effect upon him; his purpose was not to become popular or famous in
the eyes of the people. Instead, he saw his role as that of a watchman on the
tower whose duty it was to sound the warning call to those below who could not
see the approaching danger.” President Smith once shared an experience that
illustrated the change of heart that can come to a person who heeds this
warning call:
“‘Brother Smith that is the first discourse on the Word of
Wisdom that I ever liked.’
“I said: ‘Haven’t you heard other discourses on the Word of
Wisdom?’
“He said: ‘Yes, but this is the first one that I ever enjoyed.’
“I said: ‘How is that?’
“He said: “Well, you see, I am keeping the Word of Wisdom now.”
The sisters commented sometimes it is hard
to listen to people tell us what we should be doing.
God governs the
universe by law, and we are subject to that law.
President Smith went on to say, “All kingdoms have a
law given; “And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are
certain bounds also and conditions. A sister commented
that we can choose our actions and change our direction on the road, but we can’t
choose our consequences.
Keeping the commandments is an expression
of our love for the Lord.
Our responsibility in the Church is to
worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, and this we are seeking to do with all
our heart, might, and mind. Jesus said: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt. 4:10.)
When
we are keeping the commandments of the Lord, we are on the road to perfection.
The Lord expects us to believe in him, to accept his everlasting
gospel, and to live in harmony with his terms and conditions. It is not our
province to select and obey those gospel principles which appeal to us and
forget the rest. It is not our prerogative to decide that some principles no
longer apply to our social and cultural circumstances.
As we keep the commandments, the Lord
comforts and blesses us and strengthens us to become men and women worthy of
exaltation.
To please [the Lord], we must not only worship him with
thanksgiving and praise, but render willing obedience to his commandments. By
so doing, he is bound to bestow his blessings; for it is upon this principle
(obedience to law) that all things are predicated
If we go into the temple we raise our
hands and covenant that we will serve the Lord and observe his commandments and
keep ourselves unspotted from the world. If we realize what we are doing then
the endowment will be a protection to us all our lives—a protection which a man
who does not go to the temple does not have.
I have heard my father say that in the
hour of trial, in the hour of temptation, he would think of the promises, the
covenants that he made in the House of the Lord, and they were a protection to
him. … This protection is what these ceremonies are for, in part. They save us
now and they exalt us hereafter, if we will honor them. I know that this
protection is given for I, too, have realized it, as have thousands of others
who have remembered their obligations.
In the temple, we covenant to “serve the
Lord and observe his commandments and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.”
The Lord will give us gifts. He will
quicken our minds. He will give us knowledge that will clear up all
difficulties and put us in harmony with the commandments that he has given us;
he will give us a knowledge that will be so deeply rooted in our souls that it
can never be rooted out, if we will just seek for the light and the truth and
the understanding that are promised to us and that we can receive if we will
only be true and faithful to every covenant and obligation pertaining to the
gospel of Jesus Christ.
President Smith testified that the Lord has
spoken in our day; that his message is one of hope and joy and salvation; and I
promise you that if you will walk in the light of heaven, be true to your
trust, and keep the commandments, you shall have peace and joy in this life and
eternal life in the world to come.
Keep the commandments. Walk in the light. Endure to the end. Be
true to every covenant and obligation, and the Lord will bless you beyond your
fondest dreams.
Sister Myers closed by telling the ladies
none of us our perfect and all of us struggle in different ways. But if every day
we strive to stay on the road back to our Heavenly Father we will do so.
