Today I read 3 Nephi 28 where the Savior grants unto His disciples a boon. 9 of them desired to skip the Spirit world and go straight to be resurrected and join Jesus in the Kingdom of our Father, at least that is how I have always read it. The other 3 however desired something completely different. They desired to remain on earth carrying on the work of the Lord until the Second Coming.
I have often heard that the greatest sacrifice anyone can make is to give up their life for another, or in other words die for someone else. I disagree. I think these 3 and John the Beloved have made the ultimate sacrifice that someone can make. Think about it. How hard is it to lose a loved one? How hard is it to watch people suffer? And these 4 men have been dealing with this for thousands of years.
When one is full of the Spirit being around sin and seeing sin is very painful, both spiritually as well as physically. I honestly don't know how these men have survived all this time. They must be comforted by the Holy Ghost is the only thing that I can think of. I often wonder if someone saw them in today's day and age would they notice something was different about them? Would anyone notice that they were full of the Spirit and it could not be contained in them? Or have thousands if not millions of people met them or walked by them none the wiser?
I do find it so interesting that God did not want their names recorded. I have wondered why that is many times. What would it mean if their names were recorded? Why would it matter? I still do not have an answer for it but that is ok. If it were truly important I would seek an answer to it, but it is honestly only a curiosity and nothing more. I do wonder about the effects of being full of the Spirit none stop for hundreds and thousands of years though. When I read the verse about nonbelievers casting them into a den of wild beasts and them playing with the beasts as if they were a suckling lamb I did immediately think that it must be because they are full of the Spirit. I will bet that the animals could feel the Spirit that was in them and that is what made them so docile and friendly. I imagine much the same would happen were Jesus suddenly to appear in the middle of a savannah.
The history buff in me has often wondered how neat it would be to have the opportunity to do something like this and to live for thousands of years and never die and see great events unfold. However all too often those that are later classified as great events are terrible events that would drive the Spirit away. Cities fall due to battle or sin, plagues sweep the land, men who have given over their hearts to Satan do unspeakable things, how hard would it be to view such things and feel the Spirit leave you on a consistent basis? I can only imagine and shudder at what these 4 men have endured.
I agree that giving up ones life for a loved one is the ultimate test of love as the scriptures say, but giving up ones life for the Lord, that is the ultimate sacrifice. The good news is that we too can duplicate this sacrifice. If we live our lives in accordance with the gospel and serve Him in the way we are supposed to, we too are losing our lives for His sake. It is a wonderful thing to be full of the Spirit and be closer to our Heavenly Father, but it will make you all the more uncomfortable in this world. Television and movies will be less appealing, idle time will be less relaxing and you will be driven to spread the word and the light within you will shine forth unabated and you will find opportunities to share the gospel at all times. It will then be up to us to take advantage of them. That is what it means to lose our lives for His sake. It is challenging but it is also the most rewarding thing we can do in this life. Until tomorrow.
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