September’s doctrinal topic was commandments. “Commandments are the laws and requirements that a loving Heavenly Father gives His children to bless them, protect them, and guide them back to Him.”1 Simply put, Heavenly Father gives us commandments because He loves us and wants us to return home to Him. We keep the commandments because we love our Heavenly Father and the Savior and we know that keeping the commandments will lead safely along the path of discipleship back to our heavenly home.
Massimo De Feo said, “True disciples love to obey the Lord’s commandments, and they obey because they love the Lord.”2 Similarly Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught, “We show our love for Him by keeping His commandments and by living up to our sacred covenants.”3
In general conference we are given gentle, and sometimes not so gentle, reminders of what our Heavenly Father expects of us and the blessings we can receive for following His will. We will always be encouraged to do better and be better as we strive to keep the commandments. We will continually be encouraged to make and keep sacred covenants. We will also be reminded of the blessings we are promised when we are faithful in our commitments to God. In his closing talk, Russell M. Nelson said, “Not only have the messages been edifying, but they have been life-changing!” He exhorted us to “study the messages of this conference frequently.”4 Think for a minute about the word he used –exhort. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines exhort as “to give warnings or advice : make urgent appeals.”5 If a prophet of God knows that what we have just heard can change our lives, it is no wonder he makes an urgent appeal to us to study these talks frequently and repeatedly and include them in our discussions with family and friends . He also tells us we will be blessed, in a specific way, if we will do this. “Your desire to obey will be enhanced as you remember and reflect upon what you have felt these past two days.”4 As we reflect on a few of these conference talks, I hope you will remember of some things you have felt as you listened to and have since studied these wonderful messages.
Using the scriptural words “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” as the theme for his talk, Dallin H. Oaks spoke about the effects of small and simple things. Scripture study and prayer are just two of the seemingly small and simple things we are commanded to do that, when applied over time, can have a powerful effect for good in our lives. It is important that we keep in mind that “in total and over a significant period of time, these seemingly small things bring to pass great things.” One morning while taking a walk, President Oaks noticed a few places where the concrete sidewalk had cracked. The cracks were evidence of the power that small and simple things can have over time. They hadn’t happened from something big and powerful but were the result of the “slow, small growth of one of the roots reaching out from the adjoining tree. The thrusting power that cracked these heavy concrete sidewalks was too small to measure on a daily or even a monthly basis, but its effect over time was incredibly powerful.”6 While the small and simple commandments we keep have a powerful positive effect in our lives over time, the small and simple things we fail to do will also have great consequences. President Oaks warns, “Even small acts of disobedience or minor failures to follow righteous practices can draw us down toward an outcome we have been warned to avoid.”6
Claudio D. Zivic compared the experience he had the first time he went kayaking to keeping ourselves safe on the covenant path. He said, “I rented a kayak, and full of enthusiasm, I launched into the sea. After a few minutes, a wave overturned the kayak. With a great deal of effort, holding the paddle in one hand and the kayak in the other, I was able to regain my footing. I tried again to paddle my kayak, but just a few minutes later, the kayak tipped over again. I stubbornly kept on trying, to no avail, until someone who understood kayaking told me that there must be a crack in the shell and the kayak must have filled up with water, making it unstable and impossible to control. I dragged the kayak to the shore and removed the plug, and sure enough, out came a large amount of water. I think that at times we move through life with sins that, like the leak in my kayak, impede our spiritual progress. If we persist in our sins, we forget the covenants we have made with the Lord, even though we keep capsizing because of the imbalance that those sins create in our lives. Like the cracks in my kayak, the cracks in our lives need to be dealt with.”7
These are two great examples of how small things, either positive or negative, can have a profound impact. Sometimes when we talk about keeping the commandments, we think about the big ones like the Ten Commandments, the law of chastity and the Word of Wisdom. Clearly those are incredibly important in our lives. But we need to be keenly aware of the effect that heeding or neglecting the smaller things can have in our lives. The counsel and exhortations of our living prophet may be some of those small and simple things of the gospel. Hearing and heeding the prophet helps us successfully navigate this life and endure to the end. If we are not careful, seemingly insignificant things over time can have devastating consequences. Surely that is why Elder Zivic cautioned us to “strive to obey all the commandments and pay close attention to those that are hardest for us to keep.”7
Quentin L. Cook’s talk was especially powerful to me. He reminded us, “This life is the time for all of us to prepare to meet God. The Book of Mormon provides multiple examples of the tragic consequences when individuals or groups fail to keep the commandments of God.” Elder Cook spoke on enduring to the end. He said, “Jesus Christ assured us that ‘he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.’ To endure means ‘to remain firm in a commitment to be true to the commandments of God despite temptation, opposition, and adversity. Even those who have had powerful spiritual experiences and have given faithful service could one day go astray or fall into inactivity if they do not endure to the end. May we always and emphatically keep in our minds and hearts the phrase, ‘This will not happen to me.’ When Jesus Christ taught in Capernaum, ‘many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?’ I believe that today, Jesus Christ asks all of us who have made sacred covenants with Him, ‘Will ye also go away?’”8
Those words should cause us all some introspection. Perhaps today more than at any other time temptation, opposition, and adversity are all around us! If we are not conscientious, small cracks will allow the wrong things to seep into our lives. Unknowingly we may find that we are no longer walking with the Savior. How tragic! The surest way to protect ourselves against this is to, as Elder Uchtdorf encouraged, “seek to align our lives with Him, … strive to refine our natures and daily grow a little closer to Him.”3 As we do, we allow the Holy Ghost to be our companion. Adding to that, Larry Y. Wilson said, “We must each be making the effort to align our lives with God’s commandments in order to be directed by Him.”9
President Nelson knows how important it is for each of us to have our Father in Heaven’s direction in our lives. He urged us to “stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation.” Remember his powerful declaration, “Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work. … I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. Let this Easter Sunday be a defining moment in your life. Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.”10
Exact obedience will keep us walking with the Savior. Exact obedience will help us hear the voice of the Spirit. Exact obedience will align us with God and His holy prophet. Exact obedience will bless us, protect us, and guide us back to our heavenly home.
References:
1. September: Commandments – lds.org
2. Pure Love: The True Sign of Every True Disciple of Jesus Christ – Massimo De Feo
3. Behold The Man! – Dieter F. Uchtdorf
4. Let Us All Press On – Russell M. Nelson
6. Small and Simple Things – Dallin H. Oaks
7. He That Shall Endure to the End, the Same Shall Be Saved – Claudio D. Zivic
8. Prepare to Meet God – Quentin L. Cook
9. Take the Holy Spirit as Your Guide – Larry Y. Wilson
10. Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives – Russell M. Nelson