** This
past Labor Day, Dave and I decided it would be fun to rent UTV’s, or Razors,
and explore the desert volcanoes west of my parent’s home in Flowell,
Utah. Although not initially
thrilled about the idea, Keaton, 16, quickly recognized the power, and speed,
his little 2 seater provided. Dave
and I warned him several times that in his excitement and fin his speed and
recklessness were becoming quite dangerous, and could turn tragic. After one particularly hair-raising
incident, we finally banned him from driving. With Keaton in a passenger seat, and our blood pressure
returning to normal, we proceeded on our explorations.
After several hours, hot and tired, we
stopped by a volcanic outcropping for lunch. As we rested, Keaton convinced us to let him take the Razor,
with his young cousin, to explore.
Soon after, Dave followed with the other cousins, while I stayed behind
talking to my parents. After a
while, I thought I could hear faint calling sounds. A few minutes later, both vehicles returned, Dave looking
grim, and Keaton hand, purple and muddy, dangling uselessly. He had rolled the Razor, breaking 3
bones in his hand.
We count ourselves fortunate, as his cousin
was hysterical but unhurt, and Keaton’s hand will heal. However, it cost us about $4500 in
medical bills, and Keaton’s grades have suffered, and he had to quit both golf
and quidditch, not to mention the pain he endured.
** Today’s
lesson is Stay On the Lord’s Side Of the
Line. The Lord has given us
commandments so that we can resist evil and find happiness.
In
the manual, we read:
George Albert
Smith’s grandfather George A. Smith served for many years in the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles and in the First Presidency as a counselor to Brigham
Young. George Albert Smith often repeated the counsel his grandfather used to
give to his family: “There is a line of demarcation well defined
between the Lord’s territory and the devil’s territory. If you will stay on the
Lord’s side of the line you will be under his influence and will have no desire
to do wrong; but if you cross to the devil’s side of that line one inch you are
in the tempter’s power and if he is successful, you will not be able to think
or even reason properly because you will have lost the Spirit of the Lord.”
George Albert Smith said
that he used this counsel throughout his life to guide his choices: “When I
have been tempted sometimes to do a certain thing, I have asked myself, ‘Which
side of the line am I on?’ If I determined to be on the safe side, the Lord’s
side, I would do the right thing every time. So when temptation comes think
prayerfully about your problem and the influence of the Lord will aid you to
decide wisely. There is safety for us only on the Lord’s side of the line.”
** In
our situation with Keaton, the line was crossed. What are your thoughts on what went wrong?
We always want to stay on
the right side, the Lord’s side, of the line.
George Albert Smith said:
“All safety,
all righteousness, all happiness are on the Lord’s side of the line. If you are
keeping the commandments of God by observing the Sabbath day, you are on the
Lord’s side of the line. If you attend to your secret prayers and your family
prayers, you are on the Lord’s side of the line. If you are grateful for food
and express that gratitude to God, you are on the Lord’s side of the line.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, you are on the Lord’s side of the line.
If you are honest in your dealing with your fellow men, you are on the Lord’s
side of the line. If you observe the Word of
Wisdom, you are on the Lord’s
side of the line. And so I might go on through the Ten Commandments and the other
commandments that God has given for our guidance and say again, all that
enriches our lives and makes us happy and prepares us for eternal joy is on the
Lord’s side of the line. Finding fault with the things that God has given to us
for our guidance is not on the Lord’s side of the line.
[The Lord has
said]: “I cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;” not with
the least degree of allowance. Why? Because He knows that if we partake of sin
we lose a blessing that we would enjoy if we did not forsake the pathway that
leads to that blessing.”
** In
our case, it is easy to see what was lost—money, fun, and achievement. Often, it is only many years down the
road that the lost blessings from not keeping the commandments become
apparent. Likewise, we may not
realize how blessed we have been from obedience until many years later.
This lesson has four main
purposes:
· Remind us how serious the Lord is about His
commandments and counsels
· Invite us to look beyond the rules and
restrictions and see the big picture of why they are in place
· Suggest a strategy to do better
· Make us more aware of the tactics Satan uses
George Albert Smith said
the following:
The Lord, in
His kindness, seeing the attitude of His children, and knowing that they would
need guidance, gave to us the Ten Commandments, and other commandments that
have been given from time to time, to help us to find happiness. You observe
people running to and fro in the world, seeking happiness but not finding it.
If they would only pause long enough to accept the Lord’s advice happiness
would follow, but they will find it in no other way.5
When I was a
child I recognized, or thought I did, that the commandments of the Lord were
His laws and regulations for my guidance. I thought I recognized in the
disobedience to those laws that punishment would follow, and as a child I
presume I may have felt that the Lord had so arranged affairs and so ordained
matters in this life that I must obey certain laws or swift retribution would
follow. But as I grew older I have learned the lesson from another viewpoint,
and now to me the laws of the Lord, so-called, the counsels contained in the
Holy Scriptures, the revelations of the Lord to us in this day and age of the
world, are but the sweet music of the voice of our Father in heaven in His
mercy to us. They are but the advice and counsel of a loving parent, who is
more concerned in our welfare than earthly parents can be, and consequently
that which at one time seemed to bear the harsh name of law to me is now the
loving and tender advice of an all-wise Heavenly Father. And so I say it is not
hard for me to believe that it is best for me to keep the commandments of God.
** This
image illustrates this concept so well, except that our parents are our
Heavenly parents.
GAS said:
Every once in a
while we hear somebody say, “Oh, I wouldn’t be so particular. The Lord is not
going to be very severe with us if we just go part way.” The one who is talking
that way is already on the devil’s side of the line, and you do not want to
listen to him because if you do, you may be misled. Nobody talks that way who
has the Spirit of the Lord. The Lord himself has said that we must keep his
commandments: “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the
foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated.” The gospel
of Jesus Christ is to teach us how to earn that blessing.
** Let
me illustrate this principle with a story I came across yesterday while reading
on a site about Canyoneering. The
writer of the website is an experienced canyoneer, who created this site to
share information with other hikers about various places to hike and do so
safely. In the story I read, he
had met a man, and they decided to take a trip together to do the upper middle
of Left Fork and then finish with the Subway. The time table is mid-November,
the starting point, about 6000 feet in elevation. Prior to leaving, the friend had refused to rent a wetsuit,
but finally relented and decided to get one. The hike starts with several miles in, in a foot of snow.
As
they drop into the slot, Dave is puts on his wetsuit, but his friend
won’t. The friend says he’s hot
and doesn’t need it. After Dave
points out that there is ice on the water, he puts on a wetsuit top, but no
bottoms, and no neoprene socks.
Dave tells him, well, you are in for a treat.
After about 20 minutes, the friend can’t feel his legs or feet,
and is fast descending into hypothermia. So, they stop, and the friend puts on
his bottom. A while later, they come out of a slot, and the friend falls in the
water and can’t get up. At that
point Dave notices that the friend has lost one of his boots. Dave tells him he has to find the boot,
because no one can hike with him without boots. They can’t find the boot, they have at 9 miles left on the
hike, and the friend is in a critical situation.
So, how does this story
relate to the quote I read previously?
· We can’t just obey part way
· If we don’t listen to him, we are being misled
· The Lord’s has said we have to follow his rules.
· If we don’t follow completely, we can get in
real trouble, real fast.
** I’ve already talked about this book, WHY, a
book of questions about WHY we should keep the commandments.
Have random
people open the book, and read a question, and discuss the blessings of keeping
that commandment.
If we will
follow the advice and counsel that the Lord has given, our pathway will be one
of happiness. It will be a pathway, perhaps not of ease and comfort always, but
in the end it will terminate in the presence of our Heavenly Father, and glory,
immortality and eternal lives will be our portion.
The trick, however, is that the adversary tries
to lead us astray with his deceptions and subtleties.
GAS said:
There are two
influences in the world today and have been from the beginning. One is an
influence that is constructive, that radiates happiness and that builds
character. The other influence is one that destroys, turns men into demons,
tears down and discourages. We are all susceptible to both. The one comes from
our Heavenly Father and the other comes from the source of evil that has been
in the world from the beginning seeking to bring about the destruction of the
human family.
We will all be
tempted; no man is free from temptation. The adversary will use every means
possible to deceive us; he tried to do that with the Savior of the world
without success. He has tried it on many other men who have possessed divine
authority, and sometimes he finds a weak spot and the individual loses what
might have been a great blessing if he had been faithful.
** A
few weeks ago, there was a story in the news about Stansbury high school and a
big controversy with their homecoming dance. Did anyone see it?
Apparently, about 1/3 of the girls who came to the dance were sent home
because of dress code violations.
The dress code, stated, for example, that the dresses needed to be at or
near knee length, not have plunging necklines, not be strapless, etc. The students were outraged; the parents
were outraged. The parents
interviewed, without exception, proclaimed their daughter’s dress to be within
the dress code, that the dress code was vague, and that their daughter was
modest and beautiful.
I
was very intrigued by this. I
wondered why the mothers tried to push as close to the vague boundaries as
possible, instead of encouraging their daughters to stay well away from that
boundary.
My son
recently attended homecoming with a young lady as well. I know he would not have been
comfortable had his date dressed like the Stansbury high school girls. I also knew that I did not have to
worry about how this young lady would dress. I knew what her standards would be, because I knew who her
family was.
The following is quoted
from GAS:
Let me … read
from Nephi:
“And there
shall also be many which shall say, Eat, drink and be merry, nevertheless fear
God, he will justify in committing a little sin.”
I want you to
note that: “He will justify in committing a little sin.” That cunning adversary
knowing that if he could only get a man or woman to do a little wrong, that far
they had gone into his territory, that far they were in his power.
“Nevertheless,
fear God, he will justify in committing a little sin, yea, lie a little, take
the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is
no harm in this. And do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be
that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall
be saved in the Kingdom of God.” [2 Nephi
28:8.]
Isn’t that just
exactly what the devil says to the children of men today as plainly as it is
written here? Oh, commit a little sin, that won’t do any harm, lie a little,
that won’t do any particular damage, the Lord will forgive that and you will
only be beaten with a few stripes and at last you shall be saved in the kingdom
of God. That is what he says to the man or the woman who has been taught the
Word of Wisdom when he says, oh, drink a little tea, that won’t hurt you; use a
little tobacco, that won’t make any difference; a little liquor won’t do any harm.
These are little things; he always does it a little at a time, not all at once.
That is what I would like us to remember. … It is these insignificant insidious
whisperings that betray mankind and that place us in the power of the
devil. …
How can we help young people recognize and
overcome these messages and influences?
· The line is not vague; it is not fuzzy.
In a Church News article from 2009 entitled Not
Even Once, Wendy Watson Nelson says:
I
believe it is time to counter the insidious and relentless attack on our
families and nations by dramatically increasing their spiritual strength! How
can we do that? One answer may be
in the words I saw as I was driving along a remote country road. Three words on
a large sloping barn roof caught my attention. I believe those words could
spiritually strengthen our families and our nations, if properly applied.
The three words on the
big sloping roof of that old barn were:
Not Even Once!
Think of what could
happen if we each determined that from this moment on, there were certain
things we would never do, or never do again -- NOT EVEN ONCE!
For example, imagine the
strength to our nations that would flow if just 10 families in each village,
each town, and each city around the world made and kept a commitment to NOT
EVEN ONCE abuse a child or a woman–in any way
NOT EVEN ONCE to lie, or
cheat, steal. Not even once!
NOT
EVEN ONCE:
to take illegal drugs
to look at anything
pornographic
to be sexually impure!
Not even once!
Does
this sound impossible? With the help of God, it is not!
God is the Father of your
spirit and mine. He knows us so much better than we know ourselves and He can
strengthen us to avoid spiritually corroding influences. All we need to do is
to ask for His help in making and keeping these commitments.
What are some things WE, as sisters, can commit to NOT do,
NOT EVEN ONCE?
· Criticize, lash out, gossip
** Another way we can resist evil is by
choosing to subject ourselves to the influence of the Lord. We will respond to the influence we
choose to associate ourselves with.
Consider the following story from GAS and the moral he
draws from it: (Quote 4)
I remember a
number of years ago a good man who was at that time chairman of the board of
control of the Universalist Church of America. He came here to visit [Salt Lake
City] and attended two of our Sunday schools. In one of the [children’s]
classes he became much interested. Eventually, when the [class] was about to
close, the superintendent said, “Wouldn’t you like to say a few words to the
[class]?” … He said, “I would like to say a few words.” He said, “If I could
only live in the atmosphere that I found in that little … class in this Sabbath
school this morning, I couldn’t help but be a good man.”
I have thought
of that a good many times. We choose carefully the atmosphere that we breathe,
that we may live in health. But sometimes, in our carelessness, we place
ourselves in subjection to immoral influences that destroy our resistance of
evil, and we are led to do things that we ought not to do and would not do if
under the influence of the Lord. If we would only be humble, if we would only
be prayerful, if we would only live in such a way that each hour of our lives
we could truthfully say, “Father in heaven, I am willing and anxious to do what
thou wouldst have me do,” our lives every day would be enriched as we go
through this earth experience.
GAS said:
We choose where
we will be. God has given us our agency. He will not take it from us, and if I
do that which is wrong and get into the devil’s territory, I do it because I
have the will and power to do it.
** Has
anyone traveled to a third world country, such as Mexico, etc? What I often find when I travel to a
third-world country, is that I find myself much more worried about my safety,
and freedom. I worry that the
people there may not respect the rights that I value, and often, I even worry
that those in authority, such as the police, may not obey the laws. Many places, I won’t travel too,
because they are too dangerous.
When I hear of Americans who come to a bad end in those countries, I
always wonder what they were thinking in going there.
I don’t even enjoy crossing borders between countries. I always feel like something is going
to go wrong. I feel stressed, like
somehow they are going to find contraband or a problem with my ID, and am
always relieved when I am through the border.
Similarly, spiritually, we don’t want to go to that “other”
country. We don’t want to even
flirt along the border. We will be
happiest and most peaceful when we stay well within the Lord’s boundaries.
GAS
How careful we
as Latter-day Saints ought to be to live every day of our lives that we may be
influenced by the power of the Lord, and that we may be able to turn aside from
those things that have a tendency to break down our power to earn the celestial
kingdom.
See that your
feet are planted upon the rock. See that you learn the desires of the Master
toward you, and, knowing those desires, see to it that you keep His laws and
commands. See to it that the purity of your lives shall entitle you to the
companionship of the Holy Spirit, because if you are pure and virtuous and
upright, the evil one will have no power to destroy you.
** What
are some of the places or circumstances when you feel no desire to do
evil? What can we do to create
such an atmosphere in our homes, our workplaces, our communities, and our
personal lives?
Returning to Wendy Watson
Nelson;
The Not Even Once
principle can be applied to doing positive things as well. Imagine if every
family, that was committed to the Not Even Once precept, determined that there
were certain things they would never miss an opportunity to do!
Not even once!
For example, to Not
Even Once miss an opportunity:
to
teach a child
to
help someone in need
to
forgive someone—someone who may never repent or apologize for the pain they
have caused
to
be kind—especially to someone who isn't
It's really quite simple:
Spiritual strength comes to those who focus their lives on following God and
serving Him and their fellow men and women.
What can WE as Sisters,
commit to never miss an opportunity to do, NOT EVEN ONCE?
** This
week, I want you to think about this question:
What commitment am I willing to make to God and to myself,
that I will never do, or will never miss an opportunity to do—from
this moment on—NOT EVEN ONCE?
GAS:
I pray that we
examine ourselves and find out which side of the line we are on; and if we are
on the Lord’s side, stay there, because that means eternal happiness in the
companionship of the best men and women that have lived upon the earth.
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