God Lives, and the Door of Heaven Is Open.
Of all the great and wonderful and inspiring promises I have read, the
most reassuring to me are the words of the Savior: “Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you.” (Matt. 7:7.)
I
recall a story of a Latter-day Saint boy in military service. He was the
only Latter-day Saint in his barracks, and he soon wearied of the jibes
of his associates. One day when the going was particularly rough, he
finally agreed to go into town with the crowd. But as they entered the
town, there came before his mind’s eye a picture. He saw the kitchen of
his home. It was supper time. There was his family,
kneeling at the kitchen chairs—his father, mother, two sisters, and a
small brother. The little brother was praying, and he was asking our
Heavenly Father to look after his brother in the military.
That
mental picture did it. The young man turned away from the crowd. The
prayer of that little brother, of that family, brought clarity of mind
and courage to that Latter-day Saint youth.
Brothers
and sisters, as we go forward in our lives, let us never forget to
pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is our Father. He is
accessible to us. He is the author of eternal truth, the Master of the
universe. The handle is ready, and the door can be opened to His
abundance. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” (James 1:5–6.)
Life Is Forever.
While here, we have learning to gain, work to do, service to give. We
are here with a marvelous inheritance, a divine endowment. How different
this world would be if every person realized that all of his actions
have eternal consequences. How much more satisfying our years may be if
in our accumulation of knowledge, in our relationships with others, in
our business affairs, in our courtship and marriage, and in our family
rearing, we recognize that we form each day the stuff of which eternity
is made. Brothers and sisters, life is forever. Live each day as if you
were going to live eternally, for you surely shall.
The Kingdom of God Is Here.
We are citizens in the greatest kingdom on earth—a kingdom not directed by the wisdom of men but led by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Its presence is real. Its destiny is certain. This is the kingdom of
which the prophet Daniel spoke—a stone, as it were, that should be cut
out of the mountain without hands and roll forth and fill the earth.
(See Dan. 2:34–35.)
The Family Is Divine.
Thankfully,
the Lord has given to His children the opportunity to be sealed in
eternal marriage, in “a new and an everlasting covenant,” a “blessing …
instituted from before the foundation of the world.” (D&C 132:4, 5.)
Once
you have gained this blessing, go forward with the assurance that death
cannot break it—that only two forces in all the world can weaken and
destroy that binding: sin and neglect.
Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice.
You may
recognize the source of that statement. It comes from the Old Testament
prophet Samuel’s counsel to Saul: “Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” (1 Sam. 15:22.)
I am going to apply one aspect only of this great truth and will do so
to the Lord’s counsel and promise in matters of health, the Word of Wisdom. (See D&C 89.)
As I see the picture,
three great desires govern the thinking of most people: (1) to love and
be loved; (2) to have appreciative and good friends; (3) to succeed—to
secure and enjoy a measure of prosperity. Brothers and sisters, you will never be happy if you go through life
thinking only of yourself. Get lost in the best cause in the world—the
cause of the Lord. The work of the quorums, and of the auxiliary
organizations, temple work, welfare service work, missionary work. You will bless your own life as you bless the lives of others.
He That Loseth His Life Shall Find It. (See Matt. 10:39.)
Brothers and sisters, you will never be happy if you go through life
thinking only of yourself. Get lost in the best cause in the world—the
cause of the Lord. The work of the quorums, and of the auxiliary
organizations, temple work, welfare service work, missionary work. You will bless your own life as you bless the lives of others.
