Choose Ye This Day

We've all heard the part of Joshua 24:15 where it says, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Were you aware that there is more to the verse than just that, that has become such a popular saying? The entire verse reads, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." So, here we see very clearly that a choice is given. The question of this verse is whether they will hold true to the god of their professed faith, or the gods worshipped by the culture of the land. The Amorites had many Gods, much as the Greeks did. The Amorite gods were gods of harvest, fertility, seasons, ect. Each god had a particular function which benefited the Amorites. If they wanted a plenteous harvest, they would call upon the gods connected with the harvest. If they wanted a family they called upon the gods of fertility. If there was inconvenient weather they called upon the gods of the seasons. There was a god for every situation. Serving their gods was completely self-serving, and had nothing to do with others or the worthiness of the god. It was about what the Amorite wanted. Amorite religion was focused on self, and this life only. In this day and age we have that same choice, but between gods of different names. One choice is to continue to serve the God of Heaven. The other choice is to serve self, as has become the cultural norm now as it was for the Amorites. Selfishness is a trait that Satan has found very successful in his fight to control and confuse God's children. You and I have ample opportunities to serve false gods today. Think about your life and what you choose to do over God and His will. Is it sleep, social obligations, family obligations, work, search for self, or something else as mundane and meaningless in the scope of reality. The gods of our culture include material wealth, beauty, pleasure, ideologies, drugs, another person, fashion, sports, lust, sexual gratification, self-worship, and specific things we have put as our highest priority. There are countless other gods that could be named. What is the 'golden calf' you have created for yourself to worship? What do you sacrifice for and devote yourself to in hopes of reward? Whatever you love, or put in higher priority than God, is a false God you worship.

Do we have to choose?
Yes. "We are endowed by our creator with free agency. While in mortality, we live between powerful forces—the force of good and the force of evil. Between the two we must choose. There is no escape." In our lives we make choices every day. Some of them are choices of action, some of them are choices not to act. Even in thought there are choices being made every moment. If a person chooses to follow God, it requires action. God asks us to do, or not do, certain things to ensure our happiness and that of our fellowmen. To follow Him, obey Him in doing or not doing the things He commands. God's commandments and laws are not rules and regulations set to inhibit us from doing things, or to make us just do things as a tyrant would do. They are more easily understood in the light of a perfect instruction manual on how to be truly and completely happy with yourself and in your life. God is essentially saying, "Do this and it will bring you happiness, joy, satisfaction, and love. If you do this I can give you more, I can lift you higher." By the same token, it is as if He is saying "My child, I love you. If you do this other thing, it will bring you sadness, despair, hopelessness, and misery. I don't want you to have to experience that. Please don't do it. I don't want you to have to experience the negative result that naturally follows this action." If a person chooses not to actively follow God, that person is then choosing to not follow God, though it may be passive in its decision. Either way, whomever, or whatever one lists to follow is that which he has chosen... whether by making a conscious active choice or the passive choice.

Who is the better candidate?
Well, in this day and age, there are many more choices than just good or evil, God or Satan, right or wrong. There is also good, better, best, bad, worse, worst, this or that, them or me, the options are many. So how do we choose correctly? Does it depend on circumstance? Does it depend on upbringing? Does it depend on how it makes you feel? The sub-choices can be answered by choosing to obey either God or Satan, and the varying adherence to the will of each. When deciding between two candidates to follow, one will obviously follow the candidate who will be the best in the long and short term. So, I present the candidates. Regarding God - He is our Father in Heaven and loves us more than anyone could, including ourselves. He is infinite in understanding. He is unchanging. He deals with His children with justice, fairness, and because of Christ's sacrifice, in mercy also. He cannot lie. If He were to lie but once He would cease to be God and all that is would cease to exist as it does because matter would have no God to obey (which obedience comes from love for God). In the end of time, His will be the side that wins, regardless of anything. Why would a person choose to go to the losing side, knowing it is that? Let's look for any benefits regarding obeying Satan - Firstly, God has Total and infinite power over him, though he is not be underestimated in the power he does posses. He is the author of all evil, is cunning, and full of deceit. He is widely known as the Father of Lies. It is well known also that Satan is a poor paymaster. He promises much and gives enough to keep you trapped until you have lost everything, including hope. Satan often uses truths to trap you in lies as seen in Moses 5:13 - "And Satan came among them, saying: I am also a son of God; and he commanded them... and they loved Satan more than God." Alma 34:39 warns against succumbing to Satan's lies, “Be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the temptations of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last day; for behold, he rewardeth you no good thing.”

Since Satan 'rewardeth no good thing', will I be happy and successful if I follow God?
In some ways joy and success comes quickly, in some ways it comes in time, and in some ways it may not come as we defined it, but it comes. In April General Conference 2002 Joseph B. Worthlin said, "There are those who feel that if we follow the Savior, our lives will be free from worry, pain, and fear. This is not so! The Savior Himself was described as a man of sorrows. Those early disciples who followed the Christ experienced great persecution and trials... And it is no different today." Difficulties in life will happen, for without them we could not learn or grow, but become dull, lifeless, stagnant, and spoiled. Happiness will come from way deep down and permeate through every facet of life. Circumstances that are hard will be lessened by the knowledge that it is for our good, and that God is aware of us and will not give us more hardship than is needed for us to learn and grow. He is taking care of His children constantly. The joy and prosperity that comes from following Christ is certain, and promised. In John 10:10 Christ states, "...I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly." I love to think that life is given abundantly. That doesn't just mean breath or years, but also substance, experience, and vitality. The essence of life; joy, happiness, and contentment. Isaiah 51:11 speaks of that joy when it states, "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: They shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." So following God brings joy, but does it bring success? The answer to that is also yes. Ezra Taft Benson taught, “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace”. In Deuteronomy 30:9 we read, "And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good... If thou shalt harken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep His commandments and His statues which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thine soul." Again, in Job 8:7 we learn that it doesn't matter where we start, that with God, obeying and following his commandments, counsel, and guidance, we will be blessed with more than we ever thought possible. Certainly more than we could have or be alone. "Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase."

We may now see that it is unavoidable that we choose whom to serve, God is clearly the better candidate when determining who to choose, and the reward for doing so is worth it more than an hundred thousand times over.

So, specifically, how does a person serve God?
We have a perfect example. A life lived in the service of God. Jesus Christ answered that question teaching by word and example. His life is an instruction manual, and the most thorough way to know how to serve God with might, mind, and strength is to... read the manual. Study it. Learn it. Live it. One thing Christ showed us, is that to serve God we must know Him and have frequent communication with Him. That may seem daunting, but He is our Father and he wants nothing more than to assist us in our mortal life. Moses 1:39 reads, "For this is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". We see the love of our Father in Matthew 7:7-11 where it reads, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" So we may plainly see that there is no need to worry that he will not respond, or will not come to our aid. A second quality Christ showed us, is an unwavering commitment to do the will of His Father. He constantly sought and obeyed His will, even at the highest price that could be paid. A price so high he needed to be born of Divinity to withstand the physical limits of humanity that would naturally prevent it. In that moment none of us can conceive of more than even a fraction of a percent, "He prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." and again in His darkest hour, "...O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." and again, He "prayed the third time, saying the same words." Regardless of the situation, regardless of pain, shame, hardship, or other, His actions were always perfectly aligned with the will of the Father. This perfect example of serving God, we may strive to emulate. A third way that Christ showed us how to serve God is clearly stated in Mosiah 2:17 "...I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Christ was not self-serving. He served others, lifted those around Him, had patience, gave compassion and love. Serving-self is serving Satan, because he directs our thoughts, energies and actions inward. Serving God is completely outward, away from selfish intentions and outcomes.

These three things are some ways Christ taught us to serve God. We can find more examples in the scriptures, and from them we may also receive personal revelation specific to ourselves as to how we may more fully come unto Christ, who shows us the way to Everlasting life. We may learn from the good examples of those around us, and we may pray to be guided in our daily lives. The choice to serve The Living God is ours, and we may make that choice being convinced over the course of a lifetime, or we may choose it today and reap the benefits over that same lifetime. Moses 6:33 encourages us to the latter "...Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you."

Strengthening Your Personal Spirituality

I was home schooled through high school. I took seminary 1st hour high school and then I'd walk home about 45 minutes. At the beginning of the year I would just walk and think and sing little songs to pass the time, and as weeks passed and I got tired of songs, and as my feet were hurting, and it was hot, I began to use that time to talk to my Heavenly Father. There was 45 minutes a day that I had absolutely nothing to do but talk to Him and learn who He is to me personally. I used to pray for little things and it was the most wonderful experience to have those silly prayers from just a little girl answered consistently. Many of those days were pretty hot and often it seemed like the road was endless. I used to say that I had to walk to the horizon twice... and it really seemed like it. I frequently prayed for a ride home and for just a breeze so I didn't die from the heat, because I really thought I might. I had Many experiences when I would just finish asking for a ride and someone I knew would happen to drive up next to me and ask me if I wanted a ride home, and even more experiences when I would just ask for a breeze and immediately I would see the breeze coming down the street in the trees and come over me to give me the relief I needed. It was during this time in my life that I came to know that my Father in Heaven truly listens to every sincere prayer and that He is completely aware of me on a very personal and intimate basis. Having those experiences gave me knowledge that has sustained me through my life since then, and I am so very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn that in that manner. For most of us, we don't have to walk anywhere and and it can be hard to set aside 45 minutes a day consistently. Building that relationship, and maintaining our personal spirituality has to be done in other ways. I learned then that prayer is a very effective way to both build and maintain that relationship with my Father in Heaven. In Alma 34:20-25 it talks about praying over our flocks and fields, in our homes, and over our households, morning midday and evening; praying against our enemies, and against the devil, as well as pouring our souls out in our closets, our secret places, and in our wilderness. The Bible Dictionary says that as soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely that God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes Natural and Instinctive on our part. It is to our Great benefit to take the time and make the effort to have personal, individual, and actual Conversation with our Father in Heaven.Last week in Gospel Doctrine we learned about how the people of Alma were being oppressed by Amulon and he commanded them that they should not pray, and put guards over them to watch them and that whosoever should be found calling on God should be put to death. In like manner Daniel was also commanded by law not to pray, under penalty of death if he were to be discovered. And he was, and was thrown into the lion's den. Now, in these two instances, both would die if they were found praying, and both prayed anyway. That says a lot for the extreme importance of prayer. In Daniel 6:10 it says that he went into his house, prayed audibly, and on his knees, 3 times a day giving thanks and asking humble petition. Alma and his people poured out their hearts and God knew the thoughts of their hearts.What does that teach us about prayer? We need to be praying in earnest, with effort, pondering the things we are praying about before asking. Set time aside specifically for prayer, speak aloud, pray frequently, and in all things. Listen to the thoughts and feelings you have when you pray. When you have the Spirit to guide you prayer is the most immediately effective way to bring yourself into the presence of God.Reading our scriptures is an equally useful tool in building and maintaining our personal spirituality. I'm sure at times we all have tried different ways of reading the scriptures. Sometimes we read a chapter, or a certain number of pages a day, a specific amount of time, or on a particular topic. All of those are valid ways to study. We have also, at different times in our lives, each been stopped by a scripture that we hadn't noticed before, an answer to our prayers, or a thought we hadn't considered before. When you come to those scriptures, stop, re-read them again, And again if you need to, be careful not to get so caught up in the schedule you have set for your scripture study that you miss the priceless knowledge and revelation that can come. Don't worry about not finishing the chapter, or going over the allotted time because of it. Feast on that one verse, or one part of the verse even. Take a few minutes to apply the revelation you receive to your life in a Specific way before you go on. Listen to the things the Spirit is teaching you when you read. Fasting is another way in which we may strengthen our personal spirituality. Plan for your fast in the days before. Think of the things you want to fast for specifically. To not eat is the Definition of fasting, making the will of the body yield to the will of the spirit. When you go a step further, and fast with a purpose you may receive a multitude of blessings, and in a variety of ways. Take opportunities to fast for others and to fast as a ward, in your families, or even with friends. There is great power in fasting. I was born 11 weeks early and because of it, my vital organs were not yet fully developed. I had holes in my heart, my lungs, and my liver. I was in intensive care for 2 months and was not making significant progress. After some time my parents were told that I had only a 5% chance of living. They were approached by a doctor who wanted to try out an experimental medication for premature babies. He said that if he could try it on me that the study would pay for all the medical bills, which were quickly growing. With a 5% chance my parents were willing to try anything and with the added benefit that regardless of the outcome the bills would be paid, they agreed. That Sunday the ward held a fast for my health and for the successful aid of the medication. Monday the doctors came in and a miracle was undeniable. My organs were fully developed and in the span of two weeks I went from being in an incubator losing my chance at life, to being out of the hospital and home with my family. I know that had it not been for the faith showed in fasting and prayer, that I would not be standing before you today. With temple attendance you also receive spiritual blessings, knowledge, and revelation. There is a peace there that is unlike any other experience I have ever had. In the temple the love of our Father in Heaven is so apparent, and so strong. That place is the Lord's house on Earth and He walks those halls. The temple is a holy place where Satan and his influence has no power. You may go there and truly escape the world, the cares that fill your mind. You may learn, serve, and come closer to your Father in Heaven, building a deeper relationship with Him. The temple is such a wonderful gift that should not be taken for granted. Anyone may spend time on the grounds outside enjoying the quiet peace and beauty. If you are not endowed, but are worthy, you may strengthen your self spiritually by doing baptisms regularly, and if you are endowed you may fully receive all the blessings the temple has to offer. I was talking to someone this week who attends the temple weekly, she said that she could feel an obvious difference in her life when she hasn't attended the temple. She said it's like it is with scripture study how you notice the absence of it when you do not read daily. She is a fairly new convert and said that she has no idea how she ever made it without the strength the temple and scripture study gives her. In attending the temple the Spirit can reach you more readily and you will be more open to listen and obey. In order to receive many blessings, we must first be worthy of the Spirit. The spirit provides us a witness of truth, a constant guiding companion, and comfort in times of need. I treasure the guidance and communication from the Spirit that I am so blessed to receive. I see in my own life that guidance comes readily, frequently, and as I request it . It is a blessing that is so very valuable to me. If any of you have ever been at point where you don't have it, you don't realize what you've lost until you get it back. It is such a priceless blessing, and for me having the Spirit with me constantly as my literal companion is Such motivation to make decisions that will keep Him with me.
There is one other thing that is crucial in strengthening and maintaining your spirituality. I think that this one is the most important and the most personal. In order to have a strong relationship with our Heavenly Father, we must Choose to come to Christ. Christ has said over and over and over again the phrase, come unto me. We have been given our agency of thought, word, and deed and it is completely our choice individually to come unto Him. We choose the extent of our obedience and it exactly parallels our happiness. 2 Nephi 1:20 says that “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.” For me, the word 'inasmuch' is an important word. It means that if you are a little bit obedient, you prosper a little bit, if you obey a lot you prosper a lot, and if you obey completely you receive everything. It's our choice, and it is a daily choice. When we choose to live as Christ instructed, we can realize our full potential and fulfill our purpose here on earth. When we make choices that take us further from Christ we do so by placing ourselves in the bonds of sin. When I think of the bonds of sin, I always get the mental picture of the ghost of Christmas past, from Charles Dickens' 'The Christmas Carol'. If you remember, that ghost was covered in thick chains that were draped all over him and he walked under their burden and was restricted in his movements by them. If you remember, Scrooge heard that ghost coming by the chains he had to carry around. All of us have partaken in sin and have had the chains of sin hold us down in varying degrees. They are put on one at a time, so that they are not readily recognized. They can easily build until you feel as though you are carrying those chains as thick as he was. You don't need to. You have already been redeemed. That word is said a lot and because of it the meaning can be lost. Let me give you an analogy. For instance, when you redeem a prize lets say, you you claim what is yours. If you redeem a car from the impound, you pay for it so you can have it back. Christ has redeemed you. He has already paid to have you back. He has the right to claim you as His own. You now need to come with Him, into His rest. Let Him take the load from you. It's your choice, He is waiting, ready and willing to give you all the joy, peace, love, and blessings that are so vast you cannot imagine it. All of us may take inventory of the unrighteous things in our lives, things we can improve on to become like Christ. Frequently analyze the worthiness in your heart, your true desires. If your desires are not pure and aligned with Christ's example, focus on removing that desire from your heart, that you may receive all the blessings that our Father in Heaven wants to give you. Our Father in Heaven has immense love for each of us and is constantly beckoning us to Him. His work and glory is to assist us in this life, that we may learn what we came here to learn, and again return to live with Him. He doesn't want to lose even one of us, and will be as close to us as we let Him be. It is our choice. I can testify to you that if you do come closer unto Christ, He will be right next to you and will help you, bless you, and teach you; and that you will be happier than you have ever been at any other time in your life. I know that is true.