During our Christmas break this year my Husband and I had the distinct feeling that we needed to put our home on the market. Unsure as to the reason, we faithfully obeyed. We knew we were to sell our home, we didn’t know where we would be living afterwards. So we began the preparations of selling the home, repainting, carpet cleaning, cleaning out and staging. We thought the Lord was helping us and encouraging us to get closer to Eric’s work, save money on gas and get our children in to a better school. Well a week or so before we listed the house, Eric’s company approached him about coming to Hawaii for work. We felt the calm assurance that this is what Heavenly Father was preparing us for. It wasn’t the easiest of choices, leaving behind friends, family and most of our worldly treasures. But we knew that the Lord had begun to prepare the way for us, and that we’d have faith that He would make it all work out for us.
It has been a wonderful experience so far for us. We have enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and the many out door activities we have been able to do. Coming from Texas we are enjoying the cooler weather as well.
As my family and I hiked Diamond head yesterday. I was quick to call out instructions to my kids, stay to the left, watch out for the other hikers, slow down, keep going, hold to the rail. I didn’t say that all because I am a bossy mom, well maybe I am but to protect my children from hurting themselves and others around them. I wanted them to be safe and to enjoy the hike. As well as a long the path there were signs, warnings to stay on the trails. My kids would ask “why can’t we go there, or why is there a fence there?” I would remind them that the safest place for us was on the path that had been set out before us to follow and stay on. There were hand rails to grab a hold of in case we lost our balance. And there were many others a long the path that were there giving us encouraging words as we were going up and there were others that appreciated our encouraging words as we were heading down.
Such is life. We have our Heavenly Father setting out rules, commandments, not because he wants us to be miserable, but for our own safety and happiness.
In Moses 1:39 we read: 39 For behold, this is my a
work and my b
glory—to bring to pass the c
immortality and d
eternal e
life of man.
He gives us guidelines and warning signs. As we hike through life, with its many ups and downs, Heavenly father gives us spiritual hand rails and spiritual warning signs to help us make it safely to our destination. But with all the warnings and commandments if we don’t obey we run the risk of falling off the path, either getting lost or hurt, or even worse.
“President Ezra Taft Benson has stated that “obedience is the first law of heaven.”
How do we show obedience?
I have been thinking a lot about obedience to the commandments of God. And came up with a few ideas of how we can be obedient or more importantly how we learn obedience:
1. From the scriptures the written laws
2. From the Holy Ghost
3. From others like our parents, leaders and friends.
Thinking back on our hike to Diamond head the first thing to which we show obedience to was the written guide, and the signs posted for all hikers to read.
Heavenly Father has given us written guidelines and signs, our scriptures, our ensigns. These written words have been given to us to guide us in our hike of life. As the guide book gives us directions, information and instruction so do the scriptures and words of the prophets. We have also been given a written law of basic commandments to which we are to obey.
From the scriptures, from the words of our modern prophets, we are warned, taught and reminded of how we should be living. We gain the knowledge through their words of how to be obedient. We learn what we should and shouldn’t be doing, and with our faith we follow those teachings and obey.
The wonderful thing about Heavenly Father is he knows us his children. He knows we all have different learning styles. We may gain the knowledge from the scriptures, and sometimes we read and re read and well we keep relearning, it is part of life. But Heavenly Father knows that. And for that reason he has given us The Holy Ghost to help us along the way to be obedient and make the right choices.
A few weeks ago we moved here from Texas , and a few days later, we went to the park. My son Gregory was playing on the monkey bars. I had been talking with friends and felt I should look for Greg. There he sat at another table with his head down. He wasn’t crying but my first impression was he was feeling a little lonely. I asked him what was the matter. To which he replied. “I fell and broke my arm.” Mind you he had just got a cast off his other arm. After talking with him, trying to really figure out if it was broken or not. He said to me “Mom I know it is broken.” And I asked, “are you sure?” To which he replied, “yes because Mom I was playing on the bars and Heavenly Father told me to get down because I was going to get hurt doing what I was doing. Mom I didn’t listen because sometimes I get those feelings and don’t listen and nothing happens. But He told me I was going to break my arm. And I did.” Sure enough he did.
I know he didn’t break his arm because he wasn’t obedient, but that if he had followed the promptings of the spirit, he would have avoided breaking his arm. What a hard lesson to learn at such a young age.
We have been given the Holy Ghost to warn us and remind us of the things we should be doing, to avoid getting hurt, both physically and spiritually, at times. The Holy Ghost not only warns us and reminds us to be obedient, He also teaches us and testifies of Christ.
The apostle Paul teaches us that after Christ Acts 1: 2 Until the day in which he was taken up (taught the people), after that he through the Holy Ghost had given a
commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
He does the same for us as He did for his apostles in his day, teaches us through the Holy Ghost.
The third way we are encouraged to be obedient is through others, like our parents and leaders, and others around us. As we were hiking yesterday people would say things like “it’s a little steep around this corner.” Or “just a few more feet.” Or watch your head around that. Some people even commented that we were brave and amazing parents to be bringing our kids up the hill, I was holding Timmy and Eric held Emily’s hand.
A great thing about this life is we don’t have to do it alone. Heavenly Father has sent us here to live in families, and be surrounded by people, people who love us and want us to succeed. As our fellow hikers were nudging us along, giving us smiles, encouraging us to reach our goals, so are those around us, at least they should be.
Growing up in Northern California we practiced monthly earthquake drills. We even experienced a few small ones often. But one year 1989 we were hit pretty hard. My family lived a mile from the epicenter. The Sunday before this quake we had had a Sunday school lesson on obedience. The day of the quake, my friend Maren just ran up stairs to grab a snack and then headed back down stairs to do her homework. Just after she sat down and started doing her homework, her mom called to her to come back up and help her with getting dinner ready. Maren mentioned that she sat there and thought I should just let my mom know I need to finish this assignment, and then I will go help. But then she thought about the Sunday lesson, and started to hum “when my mother calls me quickly I’ll obey.” So instead of finishing up what she was doing, she ran upstairs. As soon as she reached the kitchen, the quake hit, and her house collapsed to one floor. Had she not been obedient to her mother’s call, she would have been trapped under the house.
Not every time we are obedient to our parents, will we be saved from a major earthquake or other natural disaster, but we will be saved from spiritual disasters. We are promised in the scriptures that if we honor, obey and follow our parents are days will be long upon the earth. It is important for us to obey our parents in the scriptures we read:
Eph. 6: 1 1 a
Children, b
obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Col. 3: 20 20 a
Children, b
obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
We will be blessed as we obey the teachings of our parents, as well as our leaders in the Gospel. We show our obedience by faithfully following them and obeying them.
How as parents and teachers do we teach obedience?
Elder Joseph B. WirthlinOf the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in a conference address to the aaronic priesthood he shared the following story on obedience.
“I observed a marvelous display of obedience during a recent visit to a large cattle ranch in Argentina . Early one morning, the gauchos brought forty horses into a corral to select their mounts for the day. Gauchos are like cowboys in the United States . Each gaucho went into the corral and whistled softly like this [whistling]. This established their presence. When the horses heard the soft whistling, they lined up quickly near the fence, facing the gauchos. The horses held their heads high, kept their eyes constantly on their masters, and kept their ears forward in an alert, receptive stance. They gave complete attention and appeared to be anxious to serve. They quickly organized themselves into a line as if for a full military dress inspection or review. The gauchos stepped back out of the way and whistled again. The horses circled quickly to the other side of the corral and lined up facing the gauchos. They looked as if a drill sergeant had called them to attention. Each gaucho chose his mount for the day’s work and walked up to the horse he had selected. The others stayed in line waiting for their assignments.
When I asked how the gauchos taught the horses to be so obedient, I was informed that their training started when the horses were colts. Each one learned from its caring mother and from other mature horses. The gauchos began training the colts when they were young, with kindness, never using force of a lasso or a whip.
Watching this display of obedience, I thought of you Aaronic Priesthood brethren and how you are taught by your mothers, like the two thousand stripling sons of Helaman, and by caring fathers and priesthood leaders. I thought of you following their good example, disciplining yourselves, and keeping yourselves alert—willing to serve your Lord and Master as He chooses and calls you.”
As parents and leaders it is important for us to lovingly guide and direct our children whether ours by birth or calling. We need to encourage them to obey, not force them to obey. We need to teach them obedience through our own examples. And through our obedience we will someday return to live with our Heavenly Father which is our end goal.
As we hiked yesterday, to our goal of reaching the top, we stopped took some breaks, talked with other hikers, and did our best to stay on the path. We made it without too many tears, and lots of sweat. But the views from the top, were so worth the effort to get there. And so is it with life, if we continue to be obedient to the commandments our blessings and rewards are as sweet and as beautiful as those that we saw yesterday.
We will be blessed if we remain obedient to His commandments and teachings.
1. --
Mosiah 2: 22 22 And behold, all that he a
requires of you is to b
keep his commandments; and he has c
promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth d
vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do e
keep his f
commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.
As we are obedient to the commandments we find in the scriptures, when we are obedient to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and when we are obedient to our parents and our leaders, we are promised to be blessed in our lives.
I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who gives us several ways to help us stay obedient. I am grateful to a Savior who helps us when we aren’t always obedient. And to which I leave my testimony in His name, Amen.
