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Are You Ready?
From a devotional address given to students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA, on November 5, 2019. Read the full text at speeches.byu.edu.
We can start preparing to meet God and the Savior through the blessing of the temple.
“Are you ready?” is a question we respond to throughout our lives in some form or another. It could be anything from “Are you ready for your final exam?” to “Are you ready for your date?”
From a gospel perspective, there are a series of significant events for which we prepare, such as “Are you ready for an ordination?” “Are you ready for a temple recommend?” “Are you ready for a mission?” and “Are you ready to be sealed to an eternal companion?” On a day-to-day basis, we can ask ourselves if we are ready to pray or if we are ready to give service or perhaps give a blessing or respond to an impression.
President Nelson has frequently spoken of the importance of our duty to gather Israel. In the October 2019 general conference, he taught that “the gathering is an essential part of helping to prepare the world and its people for the Second Coming of the Lord.”1 When the prophet says, “Prepare the world and its people,” he is not speaking of a generic group—he is speaking about you and me, about each of us individually and collectively. In addition, that preparation is not exclusively for the day when the Savior returns—whenever that may be—but, rather, he is referring to the day on which each of us will have the opportunity to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to account for our lives, whether we cross the veil before He returns or whether we are still in mortality when that remarkable event takes place. Will we be ready?
To be prepared, to respond to the question “Are you ready?” does not mean “Are you perfect?” Since this is not a contest with someone else, it surely does not mean “Are you better than your neighbor?” It is a matter of doing our best in preparing for whatever is next in our life—planned or unplanned—and relying on the Lord to make up the difference for whatever we lack. The Atonement of Jesus Christ—which is both infinite and individual—is designed to make up the difference. The adversary, on the other hand, will do everything possible and will put up every obstacle he can devise to hinder your progress and keep you from being ready. He wants to distract you. He wants to confuse you to keep you from fulfilling your divine destiny as an heir of exaltation.
Focus on the Essential
As a Presiding Bishopric, in order to prepare the way and respond positively to the question “Are you ready?” we always strive to apply one principle in particular: that is to focus on the essential. Significant effort is expended within the various departments of our stewardship to determine the difference between what is good and what is essential. Let me share a personal experience that taught me the importance of the difference between the two.
In early 2018, I had the opportunity to travel with Carol to Jerusalem for the first time on a Presiding Bishopric assignment. After a few days of meetings at the BYU Jerusalem Center, a day was available to visit the city and the sites associated with the life of the Savior. I have a degree in history, and I am fascinated with where significant historical events took place, trying to imagine in my mind what it must have been like in that specific location. We traveled with a wonderful, knowledgeable BYU professor, and I was thrilled as we approached the first site.
As we arrived at a certain location, the professor described how this was where a specific event in the life of the Savior had occurred, and then he said something like, “Or somewhere nearby.” It caught me a bit off guard, as I wanted to know exactly where the event had taken place. I wanted to see the plaque in the ground stating that here is where the Savior blessed or healed or taught.
A bit disappointed, we moved on to the next site with continued anticipation. And you know what happened? I again heard the words “Or somewhere nearby.” I began to be a bit irritated. When it happened a third time, I started to become annoyed. I didn’t say anything to the professor. But in an instant I received a strong correction from the Spirit. In my mind I clearly heard the words “Chris, stop it. Stop it now.” The Spirit had my attention and then continued: “It is not where it happened that is important. It is that it happened. Understand?”
This was an experience that I have not forgotten and that I have reflected upon numerous times since. It helped me understand that some things may be nice or even good to know or do, but there are other things that are absolutely essential, especially in our preparation to be ready.
I am sure you can think of many things that may be essential for us in our preparation to be ready at any time. But let me share just one essential with you—temple worship.
Attend the Temple
Since his calling as prophet, seer, and revelator and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Nelson has taught both directly and indirectly regarding the importance of the temple and the sacred ordinances in which we participate and the sacred covenants we make. He has taught directly by what he has said and indirectly by the many temples he continues to announce. In a recent general conference, he taught that “the crowning jewel of the Restoration is the holy temple. Its sacred ordinances and covenants are pivotal to preparing a people who are ready to welcome the Savior at His Second Coming.”2
In a world that is increasingly secular and spiritually confusing, the house of the Lord serves as an oasis in a spiritual desert. In His house we find peace and security from the distractions of the world as we are instructed regarding our relationship with our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, and regarding His eternal plan for the exaltation of His children. Each time we attend the temple—in all that we hear, in all that we do, and in all that we say; in every ordinance in which we participate; and in every covenant that we make—we are pointed to our Savior and Redeemer. As President Nelson explained, “The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant—the heart of the plan of salvation—is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”3
Just as the Lord commanded Nephi to “arise, and get thee into the mountain” (1 Nephi 17:7)—which was Nephi’s temple in the wilderness where the Lord would teach Nephi how to build a boat that would carry his family safely to the promised land—we too, through the ordinances and covenants of the temple, are taught in the temple what we must know and what we must do to prepare ourselves to be brought into the presence of the Savior and complete a safe return to our celestial home.
We all understand that the Lord answers prayers and provides inspiration in a variety of venues. It could be as we pray at the side of our bed, as we study the scriptures, as we listen to a general conference talk, or in a variety of other settings, but the Lord has made it clear that there are “great things” (1 Nephi 18:3) reserved for those who are willing to pay the price and be worthy to “go up to the mountain of the Lord” (2 Nephi 12:3).
Attending the temple as often as our circumstances allow increases our ability to learn and apply what we are taught in the temple. The great lessons of the temple will be written in our hearts and minds, and the associated blessings of temple attendance will be ours as we remember and keep the covenants we make.
President Nelson could not have been more clear about the role of the temple in our lives when he counseled: “Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. … If you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to make an appointment regularly with the Lord—to be in His holy house—then keep that appointment with exactness and joy. I promise you that the Lord will bring the miracles He knows you need as you make sacrifices to serve and worship in His temples.”4
Trust in the Lord
In our efforts to prepare, in our efforts to be ready, we are provided a sweet assurance in Alma, in which we have been reminded that the Savior “has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance” (Alma 12:15).
The results of our efforts to bring forth that fruit may be visible and demonstrated in our behavior, but the seeds of that fruit are typically planted in private, in the quiet moments of decision. More than what is seen in public, it is what we do in private—when no one but ourselves and the Lord are aware of the thoughts we entertain and the decisions we make—that sets us apart from the world.
Just as with the servants in the parable of the talents, who were assigned their talents based upon their “several abilit[ies]” (Matthew 25:15; see also verses 14–30), the Lord will not ask more of us than we are capable of accomplishing. He trusts you. He will also stretch you, which is how we grow. However, in that stretching process, I testify that what Nephi declared is true: “I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Nephi 3:7).