Journeying with Christ on His Covenant Path
Heidi Smith
January 16, 2024 11:15 AM
"And yet, here in mortality, even though we have been bought and paid for, God still allows us agency to choose whether or not we’ll keep our end of the deal and give Christ the only thing we’ve ever had to give in exchange for the deliverance of our souls—our will. But it is not our will that binds us to Christ and overcomes death and hell. It is the gift of covenants."
Good morning students, friends, and colleagues. I am excited to be here. There’s a parable I love about a man who had four sons. He wanted to teach them about the importance of not judging things too quickly, so he sent each of them on a quest, in turn, to go look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the Winter and upon his return, reported that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son went in the Spring and corrected his brother saying that the tree was covered with green buds and was full of promise. The third embarked during the Summer and returned with reports of a tree laden with blossoms that smelled sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son returned in the Fall and disagreed with all of them; he described a tree that was ripe and laden with fruit. It was full of life and fulfillment.
Before things became heated, the father assured them that they were all correct. But they had each only witnessed one season of the tree’s life (Unknown Author).
Just as this father counseled his sons not to judge a tree by one season of its life, we would be wise not to judge ourselves or others based on a single season of ours. Each of you has come today during a different season of life. For those enjoying a blissful season, don’t get too comfortable. For those struggling through a season of uncertainty or discouragement, don’t lose hope. To give up during Winter, is to miss out on the promise, beauty, and fulfillment of the other seasons that inevitably await you.
I want to share briefly about some of the seasons of my spiritual life. I was born in a gospel centered home with incredible parents who loved the Lord and taught me right from wrong. I knew the primary answers, but as I got older, those answers weren’t enough for me. By the time I was a senior in High School, I started to realize that I didn’t know the “why” of the gospel. That’s not to say that I didn’t know it was true. I did. I am a very logical person, and though I didn’t understand why the gospel mattered, I logically, couldn’t deny that the church was true for two reasons: one, I knew that God couldn’t lie, or He would cease to be God; and two, I knew that through the Holy Ghost, God had told me that the church was true. As if to prepare me for my own faith crisis, the thought often entered my mind: “If you have ever, even one time, felt the Spirit testify to you of the truthfulness of anything, It. Must. Be. True., or God would cease to be God.” I could have opted to deny the existence of God, but what a bleak decision that would have been, and I knew enough about Pascal’s Wager to conclude that it would be foolish. But still, I had no vision of why living the gospel mattered, so I began to go my own way.
This persisted until my early 20’s, when I got a call from my grandpa who reminded me that I had promised him, years prior, that I would serve a mission. I skirted around the issue as long as I could. I had zero interest in serving a mission, but over the next several months, the Lord made his will known to me in ways that I could not deny. When I finally submitted, I remember kneeling by my bed and dramatically saying something like, “Ok, Heavenly Father. I’ll serve a mission. I don’t want to go, and I’ll probably die out there, but I know I’ll regret it if I don’t. You can make more of my life than I can.”
Looking back, I don’t know why the Lord would have wanted someone like me bringing people to Christ, but I know now. God knew my heart even as it wandered, but my heart had not yet been revealed to me. That revelation process occurred largely through struggle, but it began with an institute teacher opening the scriptures to me.
During one particular class, that institute teacher, Brother King, bore the most powerful testimony of Christ that I had ever allowed to penetrate my heart. I was overwhelmed with the Spirit and felt a motivation I had never felt before. I silently prayed the words, “Heavenly Father, I want a testimony like that.” Over the course of the next several weeks Brother King shared some of the trials and hardships that gave him his testimony. As I sat listening one day to a particularly difficult string of events, I promptly changed my mind, and in fervent retraction I called up to Heaven in silent prayer and said, “Never mind, Heavenly Father. I’m good with the testimony I’ve got.”
Despite the hardships I have endured in the bringing forth of my own testimony, I will forever be grateful that the Lord answered my first prayer and not my second—that He saw the beautiful Summer and the fulfilling Fall that awaited me, even when I was blinded by the shadows of Winter and felt hopeless at the promise Spring. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His church on the earth today. I know there is life-sustaining virtue in the word of God. And I know that President Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s prophet on the earth today. These are things I do not hope or believe. These are things I have come to know by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by the power of the Holy Ghost any sincere seeker can know the truth of all things (Moroni 10:4-5).
Elder Maxwell once said, “To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!" (Neal A. Maxwell, “Meek and Lowly” (Brigham Young University devotional, Oct. 21, 1986)). Those secrets can be ours. But it requires work. If we want to become great musicians, or skilled artists, or talented athletes, we would expect to have to practice. It is no different in the spiritual realm. If we want to be good at receiving personal revelation through scripture study, it takes practice. If we want to be good at showing charity, we must work to show God we want to be given that gift in the face of unkindness. If we want to be good at obedience, we must choose obedience rather than future repentance.
As a seminary teacher, I got to have incredible discussions based on student questions. One Friday, a student asked: “What if I want to have the desire to follow Christ, but I just can’t seem to motivate myself?” What an incredible question. Who can’t relate with having the desire to do something good but not having the motivation to do it?
Newton’s first law of motion states that a thing at rest will stay at rest unless…you got it. I bet most of you finished my sentence in your head. Unless acted upon by an outside force. Well, what is the most powerful force that can act on us? It is the Spirit. The Spirit is without a doubt, the most powerful influence we can and ever will experience in this life. It conveys the love and power of God. It conveys truth -- things as they really are. Consider the creation accounts. In Genesis 1, within 3 verses we are taught the power of two things: the Spirit and the word. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
Before the word of God had affect upon the waters, the Spirit moved on them. Consider a spiritual parallel to this—I mean our bodies are mostly made up of water. In order for us to receive light through the word of God, we must allow the Spirit to move or act upon us. 2 Nephi 33:1 teaches: “when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.” Elder Bednar astutely pointed out, and President Kusch reemphasized last week, that unto is not the same as into (“Seek Learning by Faith,” Liahona, Sept. 2007, 17; Ensign, Sept. 2007, 61.). Unto indicates choice. God will not force a testimony on anyone. The Spirit may act upon us, but our agency remains intact because we get to choose whether or not to open our hearts to it or even acknowledge its presence.
If we lack motivation, the greatest place to start is by pushing against opposition and doing the small and simple things that the Spirit has moved us to do. This does take work, but President Nelson has assured us, “the Lord loves effort” (An Especially Noble Calling, Joy D. Jones). I doubt any of us would expect a company to pay us for a job we didn’t do. And we wouldn’t expect to become stronger if we didn’t exercise. That’s not how it works. It is the same with God. We receive the wages from whom we enlist to obey (Alma 3:26–27) and we increase our spiritual strength as we exercise it—not as we lay down. Peter discovered his ability to walk on water with Christ by getting out of the boat, not by staying in it.
God’s wages require work that goes beyond the physical and reaches our hearts. Going to church to check a box or with a closed or apathetic heart will never reap the same rewards, results, or outcomes as going with the intention of developing a relationship with Christ. They may look the same on the outside, but God looks on the heart. If you are going to spend time doing something, why not get the benefit of doing it? It would be silly to dig a trench and then refuse the check. Why do we often not see when we do this with spiritual things—putting in the time but refusing divine payment?
Elder Dallin H. Oaks observed, “In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something” (The Challenge to Become). On the first day of classes, I told students, “At the end of class, each of you will walk out those doors. Sixty minutes will pass no matter how you spend them. So, the question is: Who will you be when you leave here? Will you walk out those doors with greater determination to become like the Savior?”
The scriptures teach: “And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received” (D&C 88:32-33). To expect to be able to passively maintain or gain a testimony is like expecting to get paid for doing nothing. We don’t expect companies to do that. Why would we expect God to do so?
Consider for a moment what is required to become a physician. Things like graduate high school, pay for college, go to college, take the MCAT, attend medical school, pass exams, participate successfully in a residency, etc.
These are hard and fixed requirements, but I don’t meet a lot of people who are up in arms about them. I’m thinking it’s mainly because of the thought of you in an operating room, and a person in scrubs saying: “So, I hear you need heart surgery. I’ve never done one of those, but I’ve seen some episodes of House, delivered a few heart-shaped valentines, and I have this knife, so let’s take a stab at it.” Any takers? We don’t want to be subject to unqualified physicians. But now I want you to ask yourself a question: Would you want to be subject to a God that is the way you are now?
I once asked a student this question who asserted that if God loved us, He wouldn’t have so many laws that require people to change. When my question sank in, his face looked horrified, and he immediately and, to his credit, honestly answered “No. I would be a terrible God.” God’s laws and commands are all directly corelated to the path that will not only bring us the most joy but will also qualify us for godhood. This path is the covenant path.
This morning, I woke up feeling that I needed to briefly offer why God wants us to make covenants with Him. The reason for covenants is not because God is power-hungry and wants greater control over us. Rather, God desires that we become as He is. There is a simple formula to increase in godly power. In D&C 29:36 God declares that His honor is his power. So, how do we become honorable? It is by following this formula: knowledge of God’s law plus obedience to that law. God follows this formula with exactness—He knows the law and is exactly obedient to it. In D&C 88:16, we learn that the light of truth is the law by which all things are governed. So, another way of communicating the source of God’s power is that He knows all truth, and He aligns Himself perfectly with it.
Covenants are made through priesthood ordinances. In D&C 84:20, we are taught, “Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.” The word ordinance comes the Latin ordinare which literally means to “put in order.” The full name of the priesthood is “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.” Anytime we participate in priesthood ordinances, like covenants, the purpose is to order ourselves after Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The temple is where we gain increased knowledge of God’s laws or the light of truth and make covenants to obey those laws. Making and keeping sacred covenants is literally the only way to gain access to the power of God unto godliness, which power will ultimately enable His covenant people to become as He is. If you want to become like Christ now and be as He is forever, keep your covenants.
Exactly six years ago, to the day, President Nelson gave his first remarks here on Temple Square to the world. He said, “[T]o each member of the Church I say: Keep on the covenant path. Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available to men, women, and children everywhere. … I declare my devotion to God our Eternal Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ. I know Them, love Them, and pledge to serve Them—and you—with every remaining breath of my life” (A Message from the First Presidency, January 16, 2018). Can you imagine what you and I would be like with that kind of commitment to God? Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone was as devoted to serving the Lord and his children and walking the covenant path as President Nelson? I imagine it would look something like the City of Enoch, but we live in a world more akin to the time of Noah.
The Ark of Our Covenants
When the whole earth was flooded, the only things that survived were those things safely inside Noah’s Ark. A short poem (by an unknown author) reads:
All the water in the world,
However hard it tried,
Could never sink the smallest ship
Unless it [gets] inside.
In the old Tabernacle, it was a different Ark that protected the Lord’s people, it was the Ark of the Covenant. That ark was kept under the protection of the throne of God, safely in His presence. For the remainder of my time, I want to talk about a similar ark, the ark of our own covenants and the safety found within their walls to keep the water of the world from getting in and sinking our ships. I have divided the rest of my talk into three sections: first, I will briefly explain covenant formation anciently and how it applies today; second, I will address how the walls of our covenants offer protection; and third, I will discuss why walking the covenant path is worth the cost.
Covenant Formation
The Covenant Path is that singular and narrow pathway that leads us back to the presence of God to live with Him forever, having become as He is through traveling that well-marked path with Christ.
The phrase “make a covenant” comes from the Hebrew karat which literally means to “cut a covenant.” Anciently, covenants were entered into by two parties who would take an animal, “cut” or divide it into two pieces, and then pass through those pieces. (Jeff A. Benner, Ancient Hebrew Research Center, Covenants from a Hebrew Perspective). The division of the animal was essential. It was that division that created a path through the animal while the animal’s flesh created walls on either side of the path.
Biblical examples of this ritual include the institution of the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15 when God passed through the pieces of Abram’s sacrifice in the form of smoke and light, both holding symbolic significance (Genesis 15:9-18). And when Moses led the children of Israel to the Red Sea where they symbolically entered into the covenant of baptism as a people. The Red Sea was divided into two “pieces” which created a path forward and both the children of Israel and the Lord passed through.
Other examples exist, but the most important example is that of Jesus Christ. Mosaic displays of covenant formation directed the minds of the people to Jesus Christ as the one who would cut or divide the veil and create a path back to God the Father.
In Matthew, at Christ’s death, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain [or divided in two] from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:50-51). The veil of the temple was the partition that separated Israel from the presence of God, but upon Christ’s death, the way was opened to all, and the book of Hebrews tells us that we may now have “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. By a new and living way ... through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). Symbolically, by allowing his flesh to be separated from his spirit and then uniting them again in the great Atonement, Christ opened a path whereby we may pass through temple ordinances, death, and resurrection and enter into the presence of God.
Today, making covenants with God no longer requires the placing of a literal animal on the altar to be divided. Rather, it is the animal within each of us that must be offered up, our broken hearts creating a path or a way for God to pass through us to bring about a change in our very nature, bind our wounds, and seal us His. Ezra Taft Benson once stated, “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. … The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature” (Ezra Taft Benson, Born of God). If we are seeking changes within ourselves without letting God pass through us, those changes will be only temporary.
So how can our covenants provide us walls of protection from the sea of evil that is all about us?
Covenant Walls of Protection
Biblically, the word “walls” was often used in the context of temples. In the Book of Isaiah, Christ comforts His covenant people saying, “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isaiah 49:16). Looking at a map, Christ was crucified directly outside the city walls of Jerusalem. As He hung on the cross and looked on, the walls of that city and the walls of that temple were before Him—the physical walls anyway. Those walls would eventually come crumbling down, offering no protection from the outside world, but those are not the walls Christ was ultimately concerned with. He was and is concerned with the walls of our temple covenants. In Isaiah 56:5 the Lord assures all who follow Him on the covenant path, “Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.”
Walls offer both separation and protection. When the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea, not only was a covenant path created in its division, but huge protective walls of water were also formed. The covenants we make with God place us within the walls of protection and separation from the world that Christ’s atoning sacrifice created. Unfortunately, we all stray from the path from time to time. Encouragingly, Elder D. Todd Christofferson has taught, “God provides an almost incomprehensible gift to help covenant-makers be covenant-keepers: the gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift is the right to the constant companionship, protection, and guidance of the Holy Spirit” (Why the Covenant Path?).
The Holy Ghost is the very power by which our walls are supported, but that support is only as good as the foundation upon which they are built. After all, we all know what happened to the foolish man’s house that was built upon the sand (3 Nephi 14:24-27). It could not survive the storm. In contrast, amid that same storm, the wise man’s house could not fall because it had been built upon a rock, symbolic of the sure foundation of the Rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ (Helaman 5:12).
The walls of our covenants will be challenged. They will be rained on, hailed on, and stormed upon. But if our promises to God are built on the foundation of Christ and supported by the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, they cannot fall. And just as everything within Noah’s Ark survived, you too will survive the flood of wickedness that will surely surround the Ark of your own temple Covenants. There is, however, one caveat.
Remember how all the water in the world cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside? The rest of the poem goes like this:
And all the evil in the world,
The blackest kind of sin,
Can never hurt you the least bit
Unless you let it in.
Because Satan knows this, he does not politely restrict himself to the outside. He has learned from God that working from the inside out is extremely effective, so he is constantly working to get inside the walls of your temple covenants to tear them down from within. Prophets have taught that “Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness” (Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples, Gary E. Stevenson). The walls of our own homes and even our own bodies are symbolic of the walls of the temple and our temple covenants. What are we allowing within them? With advances in technology, it has never been easier for Satan to infiltrate the walls of our homes or the walls of our covenants. If it is frightening to endure a storm that is raging outside the walls of a home while safely tucked inside, how much more terrifying it must be to abide a storm that has infiltrated those walls that are no longer filling the measure of their creation to provide protection from the elements. When we invite Satan’s storm to rage within the sacred walls of our homes, hearts, and covenants, we have abdicated any place of safety and refuge. And when Satan’s influence has entered the walls of our homes or covenants by invitation, how quickly they will fall.
The Family Proclamation states, “By divine design, fathers are … responsible to provide … protection for their families.” Fathers and future fathers, protect your families from the devastating effects of pornography, violence, contention, spiritual complacency, disregard for the sacred, and every other influence that Satan will use to infiltrate the walls of your home and destroy it from the inside out. Remember, God works from the inside out. Whose company are you choosing to keep? We cannot keep the influences of both God and Satan in our homes for “no man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). C.S. Lewis wisely observed, “There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.” If we do not consecrate, dedicate, and designate our homes to the Lord, Satan will counterclaim that space. We must be intentional in our use of agency. We cannot leave things up to chance. Satan is much pushier than God. God speaks with a still, small voice.
Last year, President Russell M. Nelson taught, “[W]hen renovations on the Salt Lake Temple are completed, there will be no safer place during an earthquake in the Salt Lake Valley than inside that temple. Likewise, whenever any kind of upheaval occurs in your life, the safest place to be spiritually is living inside your temple covenants” (The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation). If the walls of your home have been penetrated by Satan at the invitation of someone else, return to the promise of President Nelson and know that there is safety within the walls of your own temple covenants. Keep those covenants, and the Lord will keep you.
Walking the Covenant Path is Worth the Cost
Keeping covenants with God is a lifetime commitment that requires great sacrifice. In the Lectures on Faith, Joseph Smith taught that "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." I want to illustrate why this is by using an example we can all relate to on some level.
When going to the store, a shopper may see a candy bar for sale for $5.00 and make a quick evaluation of its overall quality and characteristics along with their desire for the candy bar in comparison to the price. If the candy bar is found to be worth $5.00, the person will give up their money in exchange for the candy bar. “Sold! For $5.00!” However, if the candy bar comes up wanting, the person will hold onto their money rather than make the exchange.
This is how temptation works. Satan is constantly trying to find our “price tag.” For example, he sees that we are holding onto our Sunday worship. He does not want us to keep going to church knowing the importance of that commandment, so he offers us things to do instead. If a person is undecided, they may make an evaluation, putting their church attendance on one side of the scale and Satan’s offer on the other and choose to exchange their commitment to God to do something else “just this once.” “Sold! For one Sunday off.” But once Satan knows your Sunday worship can be bought for a price, he will continue to offer more things in exchange.
Another example is that of fidelity. Satan may see that someone’s grip on fidelity is a little unsteady, so he may offer them pornography or a “fling” at work, whether physical or emotional. If the person values instant gratification or self-satisfaction more than their promise of fidelity, that person may hand over their long-term commitment to spouse and family for what Satan is offering. “Sold! For momentary gratification.” Others may exchange their morals for money, their principles for popularity, progress for pleasure, reality for regard, natural affection for numbing, kindness for career advancement, integrity for an increased grade, and the list goes on.
On the other hand, someone who is willing to sacrifice all things for the Lord has no price tag. That person is simply not for sale. There is nothing in this world Satan can feign to offer that will be of more worth to them than their commitment to God. That is why we must, through the power of Jesus Christ, let go of the things of this world.
Imagine a hot air balloon. As long as it is tethered to the earth, it will be forever grounded—never able to soar the great heights of its potential. Our hearts are much the same. As long as our hearts are tethered to the things of this world, they will be forever grounded—never able to soar the lofty heights of heaven and gain godly vantage and vision.
Making covenants with God is figuratively detaching our earthly bands and then willingly handing them to over to Christ, so that we can instead be bound to Him. Afterall, it is Christ who gives us the ability to rise above this fallen world. This is the power of true freedom that comes through being willing to sacrifice all things. If there is anything you value more than your commitment to God, Satan will find it. In fact, he will likely find it before you even realize what it is, and penny by penny he will rob your soul if you let him. But because of our weakness and His matchless love, God has provided a way for our escape through Jesus Christ who purchased our souls at the highest of all prices—His own life.
When buying and selling stocks, a savvy businessperson knows to buy low and sell high, otherwise, the exchange is at a loss. Christ purchased your soul at a premium—your will in exchange for His infinite, atoning sacrifice that now makes you an agent with the power to choose freedom from the bands of death and hell. He did not purchase your soul without permission. You chose Him as your Savior pre-mortally. In contrast, Satan wants you to sell at an all-time low, always offering the counterfeit of what he promises to give, just as he did pre-mortally. It is an eternal principle that any exchange with the devil is a fool’s transaction. Not only does that individual sell at a huge deficit, but they sell what is no longer theirs to sell, “For [Paul reminds us, we have already been] bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). And yet, here in mortality, even though we have been bought and paid for, God still allows us agency to choose whether or not we’ll keep our end of the deal and give Christ the only thing we’ve ever had to give in exchange for the deliverance of our souls—our will. But it is not our will that binds us to Christ and overcomes death and hell. It is the gift of covenants. But covenants are not the source of power. Rather, they bind us to the source of power. My friend has explained this concept using the analogy of a saddle. A jockey can sit on the nicest saddle in the world, but it won’t take him anywhere unless it is connected to a horse (conversation with Michael L. King). We can make all the covenants in the world, but they will not get us anywhere unless they are connected to Christ. He is the source of power to progress, to overcome, to be sanctified, and to rise to regain our heavenly home.
As we keep our covenants, Christ grants us access to His power, the very power that sets us free from the eternal consequences of sin and Satan’s grasp. Of eternal marriage, President Nelson said, “Wishing to be together will not make it so.” The same could be said of our desire to return home to God. Wishing to be with God forever will not make it so. The same could also be said of our desire to be as He is. Wishing to be like God will not make it so. In fact, wishing to be free from addiction will not make it so. Wishing to drink our bitter cup without becoming bitter will not make it so. Wishing for anything of the eternities will never make it so. We must choose Christ. He is the one with the power. We must choose Him by making and keeping sacred covenants with Him, and by honoring the commitment we made to hand over our will to Him. After all, He already paid for it, and we already promised to give it.
As mortals, we are all foolish at times, but the Savior offers us incredible hope even when we falter. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland testified, “It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines” (The Laborers in the Vineyard). Elder Dale G. Renlund echoed the same comfort in these words, “remember, joyfully and reverently, that the Savior loves to restore what you cannot restore; He loves to heal wounds you cannot heal; He loves to fix what has been irreparably broken; He compensates for any unfairness inflicted on you; and He loves to permanently mend even shattered hearts” (Consider the Goodness and Greatness of God).
The cost of keeping our covenants is worth it, but it is not cheap. According to Elder Holland, “we must be prepared to have it cost ‘not less than everything’” (The Greatest Possession).
Conclusion
Brothers and Sisters, the way back to God is unique and singular. Because of Jesus Christ, the way back to the presence of the Father has been opened. As we choose to make and keep covenants with Him, He will be our shield and our protection to keep the water out and the ark of our covenants afloat. As we rely wholly on the merits of Him who is mighty to save, one day, we will not merely enter back into the presence of our Father, we will enter with boldness—knowing that we belong where He is, having become as He is through our own personal journey with Christ on His covenant path. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Before things became heated, the father assured them that they were all correct. But they had each only witnessed one season of the tree’s life (Unknown Author).
Just as this father counseled his sons not to judge a tree by one season of its life, we would be wise not to judge ourselves or others based on a single season of ours. Each of you has come today during a different season of life. For those enjoying a blissful season, don’t get too comfortable. For those struggling through a season of uncertainty or discouragement, don’t lose hope. To give up during Winter, is to miss out on the promise, beauty, and fulfillment of the other seasons that inevitably await you.
I want to share briefly about some of the seasons of my spiritual life. I was born in a gospel centered home with incredible parents who loved the Lord and taught me right from wrong. I knew the primary answers, but as I got older, those answers weren’t enough for me. By the time I was a senior in High School, I started to realize that I didn’t know the “why” of the gospel. That’s not to say that I didn’t know it was true. I did. I am a very logical person, and though I didn’t understand why the gospel mattered, I logically, couldn’t deny that the church was true for two reasons: one, I knew that God couldn’t lie, or He would cease to be God; and two, I knew that through the Holy Ghost, God had told me that the church was true. As if to prepare me for my own faith crisis, the thought often entered my mind: “If you have ever, even one time, felt the Spirit testify to you of the truthfulness of anything, It. Must. Be. True., or God would cease to be God.” I could have opted to deny the existence of God, but what a bleak decision that would have been, and I knew enough about Pascal’s Wager to conclude that it would be foolish. But still, I had no vision of why living the gospel mattered, so I began to go my own way.
This persisted until my early 20’s, when I got a call from my grandpa who reminded me that I had promised him, years prior, that I would serve a mission. I skirted around the issue as long as I could. I had zero interest in serving a mission, but over the next several months, the Lord made his will known to me in ways that I could not deny. When I finally submitted, I remember kneeling by my bed and dramatically saying something like, “Ok, Heavenly Father. I’ll serve a mission. I don’t want to go, and I’ll probably die out there, but I know I’ll regret it if I don’t. You can make more of my life than I can.”
Looking back, I don’t know why the Lord would have wanted someone like me bringing people to Christ, but I know now. God knew my heart even as it wandered, but my heart had not yet been revealed to me. That revelation process occurred largely through struggle, but it began with an institute teacher opening the scriptures to me.
During one particular class, that institute teacher, Brother King, bore the most powerful testimony of Christ that I had ever allowed to penetrate my heart. I was overwhelmed with the Spirit and felt a motivation I had never felt before. I silently prayed the words, “Heavenly Father, I want a testimony like that.” Over the course of the next several weeks Brother King shared some of the trials and hardships that gave him his testimony. As I sat listening one day to a particularly difficult string of events, I promptly changed my mind, and in fervent retraction I called up to Heaven in silent prayer and said, “Never mind, Heavenly Father. I’m good with the testimony I’ve got.”
Despite the hardships I have endured in the bringing forth of my own testimony, I will forever be grateful that the Lord answered my first prayer and not my second—that He saw the beautiful Summer and the fulfilling Fall that awaited me, even when I was blinded by the shadows of Winter and felt hopeless at the promise Spring. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His church on the earth today. I know there is life-sustaining virtue in the word of God. And I know that President Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s prophet on the earth today. These are things I do not hope or believe. These are things I have come to know by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by the power of the Holy Ghost any sincere seeker can know the truth of all things (Moroni 10:4-5).
Elder Maxwell once said, “To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!" (Neal A. Maxwell, “Meek and Lowly” (Brigham Young University devotional, Oct. 21, 1986)). Those secrets can be ours. But it requires work. If we want to become great musicians, or skilled artists, or talented athletes, we would expect to have to practice. It is no different in the spiritual realm. If we want to be good at receiving personal revelation through scripture study, it takes practice. If we want to be good at showing charity, we must work to show God we want to be given that gift in the face of unkindness. If we want to be good at obedience, we must choose obedience rather than future repentance.
As a seminary teacher, I got to have incredible discussions based on student questions. One Friday, a student asked: “What if I want to have the desire to follow Christ, but I just can’t seem to motivate myself?” What an incredible question. Who can’t relate with having the desire to do something good but not having the motivation to do it?
Newton’s first law of motion states that a thing at rest will stay at rest unless…you got it. I bet most of you finished my sentence in your head. Unless acted upon by an outside force. Well, what is the most powerful force that can act on us? It is the Spirit. The Spirit is without a doubt, the most powerful influence we can and ever will experience in this life. It conveys the love and power of God. It conveys truth -- things as they really are. Consider the creation accounts. In Genesis 1, within 3 verses we are taught the power of two things: the Spirit and the word. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
Before the word of God had affect upon the waters, the Spirit moved on them. Consider a spiritual parallel to this—I mean our bodies are mostly made up of water. In order for us to receive light through the word of God, we must allow the Spirit to move or act upon us. 2 Nephi 33:1 teaches: “when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.” Elder Bednar astutely pointed out, and President Kusch reemphasized last week, that unto is not the same as into (“Seek Learning by Faith,” Liahona, Sept. 2007, 17; Ensign, Sept. 2007, 61.). Unto indicates choice. God will not force a testimony on anyone. The Spirit may act upon us, but our agency remains intact because we get to choose whether or not to open our hearts to it or even acknowledge its presence.
If we lack motivation, the greatest place to start is by pushing against opposition and doing the small and simple things that the Spirit has moved us to do. This does take work, but President Nelson has assured us, “the Lord loves effort” (An Especially Noble Calling, Joy D. Jones). I doubt any of us would expect a company to pay us for a job we didn’t do. And we wouldn’t expect to become stronger if we didn’t exercise. That’s not how it works. It is the same with God. We receive the wages from whom we enlist to obey (Alma 3:26–27) and we increase our spiritual strength as we exercise it—not as we lay down. Peter discovered his ability to walk on water with Christ by getting out of the boat, not by staying in it.
God’s wages require work that goes beyond the physical and reaches our hearts. Going to church to check a box or with a closed or apathetic heart will never reap the same rewards, results, or outcomes as going with the intention of developing a relationship with Christ. They may look the same on the outside, but God looks on the heart. If you are going to spend time doing something, why not get the benefit of doing it? It would be silly to dig a trench and then refuse the check. Why do we often not see when we do this with spiritual things—putting in the time but refusing divine payment?
Elder Dallin H. Oaks observed, “In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something” (The Challenge to Become). On the first day of classes, I told students, “At the end of class, each of you will walk out those doors. Sixty minutes will pass no matter how you spend them. So, the question is: Who will you be when you leave here? Will you walk out those doors with greater determination to become like the Savior?”
The scriptures teach: “And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received” (D&C 88:32-33). To expect to be able to passively maintain or gain a testimony is like expecting to get paid for doing nothing. We don’t expect companies to do that. Why would we expect God to do so?
Consider for a moment what is required to become a physician. Things like graduate high school, pay for college, go to college, take the MCAT, attend medical school, pass exams, participate successfully in a residency, etc.
These are hard and fixed requirements, but I don’t meet a lot of people who are up in arms about them. I’m thinking it’s mainly because of the thought of you in an operating room, and a person in scrubs saying: “So, I hear you need heart surgery. I’ve never done one of those, but I’ve seen some episodes of House, delivered a few heart-shaped valentines, and I have this knife, so let’s take a stab at it.” Any takers? We don’t want to be subject to unqualified physicians. But now I want you to ask yourself a question: Would you want to be subject to a God that is the way you are now?
I once asked a student this question who asserted that if God loved us, He wouldn’t have so many laws that require people to change. When my question sank in, his face looked horrified, and he immediately and, to his credit, honestly answered “No. I would be a terrible God.” God’s laws and commands are all directly corelated to the path that will not only bring us the most joy but will also qualify us for godhood. This path is the covenant path.
This morning, I woke up feeling that I needed to briefly offer why God wants us to make covenants with Him. The reason for covenants is not because God is power-hungry and wants greater control over us. Rather, God desires that we become as He is. There is a simple formula to increase in godly power. In D&C 29:36 God declares that His honor is his power. So, how do we become honorable? It is by following this formula: knowledge of God’s law plus obedience to that law. God follows this formula with exactness—He knows the law and is exactly obedient to it. In D&C 88:16, we learn that the light of truth is the law by which all things are governed. So, another way of communicating the source of God’s power is that He knows all truth, and He aligns Himself perfectly with it.
Covenants are made through priesthood ordinances. In D&C 84:20, we are taught, “Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.” The word ordinance comes the Latin ordinare which literally means to “put in order.” The full name of the priesthood is “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.” Anytime we participate in priesthood ordinances, like covenants, the purpose is to order ourselves after Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The temple is where we gain increased knowledge of God’s laws or the light of truth and make covenants to obey those laws. Making and keeping sacred covenants is literally the only way to gain access to the power of God unto godliness, which power will ultimately enable His covenant people to become as He is. If you want to become like Christ now and be as He is forever, keep your covenants.
Exactly six years ago, to the day, President Nelson gave his first remarks here on Temple Square to the world. He said, “[T]o each member of the Church I say: Keep on the covenant path. Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available to men, women, and children everywhere. … I declare my devotion to God our Eternal Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ. I know Them, love Them, and pledge to serve Them—and you—with every remaining breath of my life” (A Message from the First Presidency, January 16, 2018). Can you imagine what you and I would be like with that kind of commitment to God? Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone was as devoted to serving the Lord and his children and walking the covenant path as President Nelson? I imagine it would look something like the City of Enoch, but we live in a world more akin to the time of Noah.
The Ark of Our Covenants
When the whole earth was flooded, the only things that survived were those things safely inside Noah’s Ark. A short poem (by an unknown author) reads:
All the water in the world,
However hard it tried,
Could never sink the smallest ship
Unless it [gets] inside.
In the old Tabernacle, it was a different Ark that protected the Lord’s people, it was the Ark of the Covenant. That ark was kept under the protection of the throne of God, safely in His presence. For the remainder of my time, I want to talk about a similar ark, the ark of our own covenants and the safety found within their walls to keep the water of the world from getting in and sinking our ships. I have divided the rest of my talk into three sections: first, I will briefly explain covenant formation anciently and how it applies today; second, I will address how the walls of our covenants offer protection; and third, I will discuss why walking the covenant path is worth the cost.
Covenant Formation
The Covenant Path is that singular and narrow pathway that leads us back to the presence of God to live with Him forever, having become as He is through traveling that well-marked path with Christ.
The phrase “make a covenant” comes from the Hebrew karat which literally means to “cut a covenant.” Anciently, covenants were entered into by two parties who would take an animal, “cut” or divide it into two pieces, and then pass through those pieces. (Jeff A. Benner, Ancient Hebrew Research Center, Covenants from a Hebrew Perspective). The division of the animal was essential. It was that division that created a path through the animal while the animal’s flesh created walls on either side of the path.
Biblical examples of this ritual include the institution of the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15 when God passed through the pieces of Abram’s sacrifice in the form of smoke and light, both holding symbolic significance (Genesis 15:9-18). And when Moses led the children of Israel to the Red Sea where they symbolically entered into the covenant of baptism as a people. The Red Sea was divided into two “pieces” which created a path forward and both the children of Israel and the Lord passed through.
Other examples exist, but the most important example is that of Jesus Christ. Mosaic displays of covenant formation directed the minds of the people to Jesus Christ as the one who would cut or divide the veil and create a path back to God the Father.
In Matthew, at Christ’s death, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain [or divided in two] from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:50-51). The veil of the temple was the partition that separated Israel from the presence of God, but upon Christ’s death, the way was opened to all, and the book of Hebrews tells us that we may now have “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. By a new and living way ... through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). Symbolically, by allowing his flesh to be separated from his spirit and then uniting them again in the great Atonement, Christ opened a path whereby we may pass through temple ordinances, death, and resurrection and enter into the presence of God.
Today, making covenants with God no longer requires the placing of a literal animal on the altar to be divided. Rather, it is the animal within each of us that must be offered up, our broken hearts creating a path or a way for God to pass through us to bring about a change in our very nature, bind our wounds, and seal us His. Ezra Taft Benson once stated, “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. … The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature” (Ezra Taft Benson, Born of God). If we are seeking changes within ourselves without letting God pass through us, those changes will be only temporary.
So how can our covenants provide us walls of protection from the sea of evil that is all about us?
Covenant Walls of Protection
Biblically, the word “walls” was often used in the context of temples. In the Book of Isaiah, Christ comforts His covenant people saying, “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isaiah 49:16). Looking at a map, Christ was crucified directly outside the city walls of Jerusalem. As He hung on the cross and looked on, the walls of that city and the walls of that temple were before Him—the physical walls anyway. Those walls would eventually come crumbling down, offering no protection from the outside world, but those are not the walls Christ was ultimately concerned with. He was and is concerned with the walls of our temple covenants. In Isaiah 56:5 the Lord assures all who follow Him on the covenant path, “Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.”
Walls offer both separation and protection. When the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea, not only was a covenant path created in its division, but huge protective walls of water were also formed. The covenants we make with God place us within the walls of protection and separation from the world that Christ’s atoning sacrifice created. Unfortunately, we all stray from the path from time to time. Encouragingly, Elder D. Todd Christofferson has taught, “God provides an almost incomprehensible gift to help covenant-makers be covenant-keepers: the gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift is the right to the constant companionship, protection, and guidance of the Holy Spirit” (Why the Covenant Path?).
The Holy Ghost is the very power by which our walls are supported, but that support is only as good as the foundation upon which they are built. After all, we all know what happened to the foolish man’s house that was built upon the sand (3 Nephi 14:24-27). It could not survive the storm. In contrast, amid that same storm, the wise man’s house could not fall because it had been built upon a rock, symbolic of the sure foundation of the Rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ (Helaman 5:12).
The walls of our covenants will be challenged. They will be rained on, hailed on, and stormed upon. But if our promises to God are built on the foundation of Christ and supported by the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, they cannot fall. And just as everything within Noah’s Ark survived, you too will survive the flood of wickedness that will surely surround the Ark of your own temple Covenants. There is, however, one caveat.
Remember how all the water in the world cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside? The rest of the poem goes like this:
And all the evil in the world,
The blackest kind of sin,
Can never hurt you the least bit
Unless you let it in.
Because Satan knows this, he does not politely restrict himself to the outside. He has learned from God that working from the inside out is extremely effective, so he is constantly working to get inside the walls of your temple covenants to tear them down from within. Prophets have taught that “Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness” (Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples, Gary E. Stevenson). The walls of our own homes and even our own bodies are symbolic of the walls of the temple and our temple covenants. What are we allowing within them? With advances in technology, it has never been easier for Satan to infiltrate the walls of our homes or the walls of our covenants. If it is frightening to endure a storm that is raging outside the walls of a home while safely tucked inside, how much more terrifying it must be to abide a storm that has infiltrated those walls that are no longer filling the measure of their creation to provide protection from the elements. When we invite Satan’s storm to rage within the sacred walls of our homes, hearts, and covenants, we have abdicated any place of safety and refuge. And when Satan’s influence has entered the walls of our homes or covenants by invitation, how quickly they will fall.
The Family Proclamation states, “By divine design, fathers are … responsible to provide … protection for their families.” Fathers and future fathers, protect your families from the devastating effects of pornography, violence, contention, spiritual complacency, disregard for the sacred, and every other influence that Satan will use to infiltrate the walls of your home and destroy it from the inside out. Remember, God works from the inside out. Whose company are you choosing to keep? We cannot keep the influences of both God and Satan in our homes for “no man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). C.S. Lewis wisely observed, “There is no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.” If we do not consecrate, dedicate, and designate our homes to the Lord, Satan will counterclaim that space. We must be intentional in our use of agency. We cannot leave things up to chance. Satan is much pushier than God. God speaks with a still, small voice.
Last year, President Russell M. Nelson taught, “[W]hen renovations on the Salt Lake Temple are completed, there will be no safer place during an earthquake in the Salt Lake Valley than inside that temple. Likewise, whenever any kind of upheaval occurs in your life, the safest place to be spiritually is living inside your temple covenants” (The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation). If the walls of your home have been penetrated by Satan at the invitation of someone else, return to the promise of President Nelson and know that there is safety within the walls of your own temple covenants. Keep those covenants, and the Lord will keep you.
Walking the Covenant Path is Worth the Cost
Keeping covenants with God is a lifetime commitment that requires great sacrifice. In the Lectures on Faith, Joseph Smith taught that "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." I want to illustrate why this is by using an example we can all relate to on some level.
When going to the store, a shopper may see a candy bar for sale for $5.00 and make a quick evaluation of its overall quality and characteristics along with their desire for the candy bar in comparison to the price. If the candy bar is found to be worth $5.00, the person will give up their money in exchange for the candy bar. “Sold! For $5.00!” However, if the candy bar comes up wanting, the person will hold onto their money rather than make the exchange.
This is how temptation works. Satan is constantly trying to find our “price tag.” For example, he sees that we are holding onto our Sunday worship. He does not want us to keep going to church knowing the importance of that commandment, so he offers us things to do instead. If a person is undecided, they may make an evaluation, putting their church attendance on one side of the scale and Satan’s offer on the other and choose to exchange their commitment to God to do something else “just this once.” “Sold! For one Sunday off.” But once Satan knows your Sunday worship can be bought for a price, he will continue to offer more things in exchange.
Another example is that of fidelity. Satan may see that someone’s grip on fidelity is a little unsteady, so he may offer them pornography or a “fling” at work, whether physical or emotional. If the person values instant gratification or self-satisfaction more than their promise of fidelity, that person may hand over their long-term commitment to spouse and family for what Satan is offering. “Sold! For momentary gratification.” Others may exchange their morals for money, their principles for popularity, progress for pleasure, reality for regard, natural affection for numbing, kindness for career advancement, integrity for an increased grade, and the list goes on.
On the other hand, someone who is willing to sacrifice all things for the Lord has no price tag. That person is simply not for sale. There is nothing in this world Satan can feign to offer that will be of more worth to them than their commitment to God. That is why we must, through the power of Jesus Christ, let go of the things of this world.
Imagine a hot air balloon. As long as it is tethered to the earth, it will be forever grounded—never able to soar the great heights of its potential. Our hearts are much the same. As long as our hearts are tethered to the things of this world, they will be forever grounded—never able to soar the lofty heights of heaven and gain godly vantage and vision.
Making covenants with God is figuratively detaching our earthly bands and then willingly handing them to over to Christ, so that we can instead be bound to Him. Afterall, it is Christ who gives us the ability to rise above this fallen world. This is the power of true freedom that comes through being willing to sacrifice all things. If there is anything you value more than your commitment to God, Satan will find it. In fact, he will likely find it before you even realize what it is, and penny by penny he will rob your soul if you let him. But because of our weakness and His matchless love, God has provided a way for our escape through Jesus Christ who purchased our souls at the highest of all prices—His own life.
When buying and selling stocks, a savvy businessperson knows to buy low and sell high, otherwise, the exchange is at a loss. Christ purchased your soul at a premium—your will in exchange for His infinite, atoning sacrifice that now makes you an agent with the power to choose freedom from the bands of death and hell. He did not purchase your soul without permission. You chose Him as your Savior pre-mortally. In contrast, Satan wants you to sell at an all-time low, always offering the counterfeit of what he promises to give, just as he did pre-mortally. It is an eternal principle that any exchange with the devil is a fool’s transaction. Not only does that individual sell at a huge deficit, but they sell what is no longer theirs to sell, “For [Paul reminds us, we have already been] bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). And yet, here in mortality, even though we have been bought and paid for, God still allows us agency to choose whether or not we’ll keep our end of the deal and give Christ the only thing we’ve ever had to give in exchange for the deliverance of our souls—our will. But it is not our will that binds us to Christ and overcomes death and hell. It is the gift of covenants. But covenants are not the source of power. Rather, they bind us to the source of power. My friend has explained this concept using the analogy of a saddle. A jockey can sit on the nicest saddle in the world, but it won’t take him anywhere unless it is connected to a horse (conversation with Michael L. King). We can make all the covenants in the world, but they will not get us anywhere unless they are connected to Christ. He is the source of power to progress, to overcome, to be sanctified, and to rise to regain our heavenly home.
As we keep our covenants, Christ grants us access to His power, the very power that sets us free from the eternal consequences of sin and Satan’s grasp. Of eternal marriage, President Nelson said, “Wishing to be together will not make it so.” The same could be said of our desire to return home to God. Wishing to be with God forever will not make it so. The same could also be said of our desire to be as He is. Wishing to be like God will not make it so. In fact, wishing to be free from addiction will not make it so. Wishing to drink our bitter cup without becoming bitter will not make it so. Wishing for anything of the eternities will never make it so. We must choose Christ. He is the one with the power. We must choose Him by making and keeping sacred covenants with Him, and by honoring the commitment we made to hand over our will to Him. After all, He already paid for it, and we already promised to give it.
As mortals, we are all foolish at times, but the Savior offers us incredible hope even when we falter. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland testified, “It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines” (The Laborers in the Vineyard). Elder Dale G. Renlund echoed the same comfort in these words, “remember, joyfully and reverently, that the Savior loves to restore what you cannot restore; He loves to heal wounds you cannot heal; He loves to fix what has been irreparably broken; He compensates for any unfairness inflicted on you; and He loves to permanently mend even shattered hearts” (Consider the Goodness and Greatness of God).
The cost of keeping our covenants is worth it, but it is not cheap. According to Elder Holland, “we must be prepared to have it cost ‘not less than everything’” (The Greatest Possession).
Conclusion
Brothers and Sisters, the way back to God is unique and singular. Because of Jesus Christ, the way back to the presence of the Father has been opened. As we choose to make and keep covenants with Him, He will be our shield and our protection to keep the water out and the ark of our covenants afloat. As we rely wholly on the merits of Him who is mighty to save, one day, we will not merely enter back into the presence of our Father, we will enter with boldness—knowing that we belong where He is, having become as He is through our own personal journey with Christ on His covenant path. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.