"10 Otherwise Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand not the things which are prepared for them."
Quote of the Day:
"Satan’s tactic is to “turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand not the things which are prepared for them.” He creates a smoke screen that obscures our vision and diverts our attention.
President Heber J. Grant (1856–1945) stated: “If we are faithful in keeping the commandments of God His promises will be fulfilled to the very letter. … The trouble is, the adversary of men’s souls blinds their minds. He throws dust, so to speak, in their eyes, and they are blinded with the things of this world.”
How are we possibly going to select which voices we will listen to and believe? The implications for us as individuals are staggering. To spiritually survive, we must do at least these four things.
First, we must exercise moral agency wisely. Amaleki tells us how we can make proper choices: “There is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord: and that which is evil cometh from the devil." Every moment demands that we choose, over and over again, between that which comes from the Lord and that which comes from the devil. As tiny drops of water shape a landscape, so our minute-by-minute choices shape our character.
Second, we must have a purpose. The late prime minister David Ben-Gurion of Israel once made a statement about Leon Trotsky, one of the architects of the Russian Communist revolution. Trotsky, he said, was no leader. He was brilliant, but he was no leader because he had no purpose. Everyone in life needs to have a purpose. As members of Christ’s Church, we are to consider the end of our salvation. Someone has said, “You must stand up for something, or you will fall for everything.”
The more righteous part of the Nephites had to focus their attention in order to hear the voice that preceded the Savior’s appearance among them. “They heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.” They heard the voice a second time and did not understand. When they heard the voice the third time, they “did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.” If we are to hearken to the voice of the Spirit, we too must open our ears, turn the eye of faith to the source of the voice, and look steadfastly towards heaven.
Third, we must strengthen our testimony. We all need to study the plan of salvation and learn of our relationship to God. As we walk by faith, we will have confirmed in our hearts spiritual experiences which will strengthen our faith and testimony.
Fourth, we must search the scriptures, which are “the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.” The Lord also said of His word, as found in the scriptures, “For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you.”
I suggest a simple solution for selecting the channel to which we attune ourselves: listen to and follow the voice of the Spirit. This is an ancient solution, even eternal, and may not be popular in a society that is always looking for something new. It requires patience in a world that demands instant gratification. This solution is quiet, peaceful, and subtle in a world enamored of that which is loud, incessant, fast paced, garish, and crude. This solution requires you to be contemplative while your peers seek physical titillation. (This may seem foolish in a time when it is not worth remembering much of the trivial tripe to which we are exposed.) This solution is one unified, consistent, age-old message in a world that quickly becomes bored in the absence of intensity, variety, and novelty. This solution requires us to walk by faith in a world governed by sight. With the eye of faith we are to see eternal, unseen, spiritual verities, while the masses of mankind depend solely on temporal things which can be known only through the physical senses.
We need to learn how to ponder the things of the Spirit and to respond to its promptings—to filter out the static generated by Satan. As we become attuned to the Spirit, we “shall hear a word behind [us], saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.” Hearkening to the “voice of the living God” will give us “peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.” These are the greatest of all the gifts of God."
No comments:
Post a Comment