A Choice Promise

Do you owe the Lord for every day of your life?

Some feel that they owe the Lord nothing. Yes, you owe him for your parents; for your spirit, mind, and body; for the sunshine; for the earth; for your friends and loved ones.

A young man once said to me, “I don’t pay my tithing because I don’t believe that I owe the Lord anything.”

I answered, “What if the Lord were to turn the air off for a few moments—would you hastily change your mind?”

He responded, “I hope that he doesn’t.” What would you do if the air were turned off for two minutes, and God agreed to turn it back on if you would agree to love him with all your heart, might, mind, and soul? Would you quickly agree, or would you want to procrastinate and think it over?

The Lord does not force man into loving him. He promised man this choice privilege and blessing in these words: “Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.” (D&C 6:20.) What a choice promise! If you keep his commandments, God will encircle you in the arms of his love!

Elder Bernard P. Brockbank
Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
Brigham Young University fireside address