I've been looking for a picture that would illustrate this truth for a long time. Last Sunday, our excellent teacher, Mike Hoer brought these two plants to class. He explained that the kale was planted months ago and pretty faithfully cared for. However, the 6 ft tall weed appeared suddenly in the middle of his flowerbed last week, growing unnoticed until it had towered over everything else! Thankfully, he consented to let me use this example for this post. How clearly this visual shows that the weeds in our lives require almost NO attention to grow and flourish but the good and healthy plants take constant care to even stay alive.
My husband and I have observed and discussed many times how everything that brings you closer to God takes CONSISTENT daily effort. You have to CHOOSE to pray, read your scriptures, obey the commandments and serve others. You have to deliberately PRESS FORWARD and make a decision that you are going to do these things every day! If you do you will feel the peace and grounding effects of those decisions BUT none of those things are addictive, whereas illicit drugs, pornography and alcohol will become insurmountable distractions if you allow your physical body to become addicted to any of those things. I use the word "allow" because we have free agency to CHOOSE how we treat our body and ANYTHING that takes our attention away from an eternal perspective can be addicting.
The world is full of distractions! We can choose from any number of temptations continually before our eyes... from social media and secular philosophy to fashion and food! Satan can win our souls SO easily if we don't keep trying. I once heard someone say that we are all only three weeks from church inactivity. Elder Kevin S. Hamilton spoke of this happening to his father in October 2013 Conference:
On a beautiful spring day, after returning home from Sunday morning worship services and having a midday family meal together, his mother turned to his father and asked simply, “Well, dear, do you think we should go to sacrament meeting this afternoon, or should we take the family for a ride in the country?”
The idea that there was an option to sacrament meeting had never occurred to my father, but he and his three teenage siblings all sat up and paid careful attention. That Sunday afternoon ride in the country was probably an enjoyable family activity, but that small decision became the start of a new direction which ultimately led his family away from the Church with its safety, security, and blessings and onto a different path.
The idea that there was an option to sacrament meeting had never occurred to my father, but he and his three teenage siblings all sat up and paid careful attention. That Sunday afternoon ride in the country was probably an enjoyable family activity, but that small decision became the start of a new direction which ultimately led his family away from the Church with its safety, security, and blessings and onto a different path.
In the scriptural story "Lehi's Dream of the Tree of Life" found in the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 8 Lehi sees numberless concourses of people PRESSING FORWARD ... Some holding to the rod leading to the tree of life where they can enjoy the precious fruit OR some "feeling their way" to the spacious building to join those prideful, mocking throngs.
Powerful quote from Susanna Wesley to her son, John Wesley (the founder of Methodism):
“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind; that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.”
I hope I can hold to the rod and PRESS FORWARD to the Tree of Life without becoming distracted. I hope I can demonstrate by my choices to worship the Lord of Heaven and Earth in all His matchless wonder, in continual praise and gratitude for His many, many blessings to us! We don't have to be moving forward at lightning speed… Sometimes I feel that simply facing forward is enough. Just don't let go and turn around once you've known the joy of tasting the precious fruit of the gospel. AMEN.
Powerful quote from Susanna Wesley to her son, John Wesley (the founder of Methodism):
“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind; that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.”
I hope I can hold to the rod and PRESS FORWARD to the Tree of Life without becoming distracted. I hope I can demonstrate by my choices to worship the Lord of Heaven and Earth in all His matchless wonder, in continual praise and gratitude for His many, many blessings to us! We don't have to be moving forward at lightning speed… Sometimes I feel that simply facing forward is enough. Just don't let go and turn around once you've known the joy of tasting the precious fruit of the gospel. AMEN.
