I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come, Follow Me for Doctrine and Covenants 71-75, If you missed last week’s insight, Doctrine and Covenants 67-70 click here for it. Please share this with your friends or use this picture to save this pin to read later:
The Time Of The Lord.
“And if any man lift his voice against you he shall be confounded in mine own due time.”
Doctrine and Covenants 71:10
The Lord has made and continues to make many promises to us. And He will keep ALL of His promises. But one thing must be understood it is always on His timetables. Dallin H. Oaks taught this clearly when he taught in General Conference:
The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means trust—trust in God’s will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on His. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said:
“The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best? The same is true with the second coming and with all those matters wherein our faith needs to include faith in the Lord’s timing for us personally, not just in His overall plans and purposes.”
Indeed, we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing.
Timing By Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Oct 2003
Callings.
“For verily thus saith the Lord, it is expedient in me for a bishop to be appointed unto you, or of you, unto the church in this part of the Lord’s vineyard.”
Doctrine and Covenants 72:2
Section 72 deals with the calling of a Bishop, his duties, and responsibilities. One of the aspects of callings that is dangerous but hard to avoid is the tendency to equating our value in the church with our calling. In most organizations, our rank/title/assignment reflects our value to the leaders. For example, if you excel in sports your coach will either make you a starter or you become a team captain. If you are not good enough you get a lowly position like a waterbody or the assignment to clean out the toilets.
In the Church, though it is different than the world. There is no ladder to climb, if you are a really good nursery leader, you don’t get promoted to primary teacher. Or if you are a ‘bad’ stake president you don’t get demoted to a ‘lesser calling’ I once had a conversation with Elder Gerald N. Lund. He is a former General Authority, a member of the quorum of the seventy. He mentioned that in his new ward he is the secretary. Some might view a move like this as a demotion, from being a General Authority of the church to a ward executive secretary?
Dallin H. Oaks taught that “we do not “step down” when we are released, and we do not “step up” when we are called. There is no “up or down” in the service of the Lord. There is only “forward or backward,” and that difference depends on how we accept and act upon our releases and our callings. I once presided at the release of a young stake president who had given fine service for nine years and was now rejoicing in his release and in the new calling he and his wife had just received. They were called to be the nursery leaders in their ward. Only in this Church would that be seen as equally honorable!”
That is not how the Lord’s kingdom works! Every calling is important to the mission of the church, it is that way by design. Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught that “No calling is beneath us. Every calling provides an opportunity to serve and to grow.” If you don’t feel your calling is important then ask your Bishop for help seeing the big picture.
Be Sober!
“Now I give no more unto you at this time. Gird up your loins and be sober. Even so. Amen.”
Doctrine and Covenants 73:6
I love this verse because the Lord is basically saying, “That’s it! Get to work!” but He used a very interesting word. He did not just say “Go to work” he said Be Sober. Now, sober is a word we do not often use today. When the Lord says ‘be sober’ He is not talking about avoiding drunkenness, He is talking about the Christlike attribute of Sobriety. So what does being sober mean? Elder James J. Hamula taught that “Being sober means being earnest and serious in assessing your circumstances and careful and circumspect in weighing the consequences of your actions. Soberness therefore yields good judgment, as well as measured conduct. No wonder then that prophets counsel young men to be sober.”
Children are holy.
“But little children are holy, being sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ; and this is what the scriptures mean.”
Doctrine and Covenants 74:7
I love this verse because it simply explains how children are holy. Unlike other Christian Churches, we don’t believe children are born with the sins of their parents. We believe children are alive in Christ! (See Moroni 8:12) When we realize that children are holy we understand the command to become like little children so that we can reach our potential as children of God.
“Who are we? We are children of God. Our potential is unlimited. Our inheritance is sacred. May we always honor that heritage—in every thought and deed—I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”
Russell M. Nelson
The Lord wants to forgive.
“And he sinned; nevertheless, I forgive him and say unto him again, Go ye into the south countries.”
Doctrine and Covenants 75:8
Satan tries to paint God as a scary authoritarian, do what I say or HELL FIRE!!! In reality, God is OUR loving Father and Jesus Christ is OUR loving Elder Brother. One of my favorite hymns is Reverently and Meekly Now, I love the fourth verse:
At the throne I intercede;
For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend,
With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore,
Prayerful, watchful evermore,
And be constant unto me,
That thy Savior I may be.
When we understand that the Lord really does love us, we will understand that Jesus Christ died so that He could forgive us of our sins. The Savior loves you and wants to forgive you! Jeffrey R. Holland taught that “surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it.”