Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 82. Most scriptorians will recognize this section as containing 2 scripture masteries. When I was in college and I had a Doctrine and Covenants course, one of he benefits of going to school at BYU, I remember I had a professor that spoke about verse 10 of this section. I'm pretty sure I have spoken of it before now, but it is appropriate I think since it is in this verse to speak of it again.
Verse 10 says, "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." Growing up I had always interpreted that as saying that when we follow the commandments, the Lord is required to give us the appropriate blessings, but when we do not follow the commandments, He will not bless us. My professor at BYU pointed out that the scripture does not say that. It merely says we have no promise. So what the verse is actually saying is that if we do not follow the commandments of the Lord, it is up to His discretion if He wants to bless us or not.
I think all of us can agree that the Lord has blessed us when we didn't deserve it in regards to our feeling worthy. It honestly reminds me of humans at times. Have you ever had to do a job but could not find the proper tool? For example, have you ever taken off a flat headed screw with a butter knife? Or maybe a phillips head screw with a flat headed screw driver? I know I have a countless other things of a similar nature. Sometimes you just have to work with what you have. That's kind of what I picture Heavenly Father going through too. He only has us, imperfect tools, to work with so He makes it work. At times we might be a better fit than at others, but very few of us are the perfect tool I think.
But just like an earthly parent loves their child, even when the child is misbehaving or doing that which is wrong, Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be both happy and successful so He will bless us in our times of need, even if He isn't bound to. But if we want to be guaranteed a blessing, all we have to do is live the commandments, that's not a whole lot just to be guaranteed a blessing.
The other scripture mastery comes from verse 3, which states that unto whom much is given, much is required. There is a reason that the Lord tells us milk before meat, or do not run faster than you are able. It is not because He is trying to hide anything or because He is embarrassed about the gospel or anything in it. Quite the opposite in fact, He bears testimony of it constantly. Rather, once a person is exposed to the Gospel and is made a partaker of it through ordinances such as baptism and confirmation, covenants are also given and that person is then expected to live up to the covenants that they have made with the Lord. This is why despite the marvelous blessings of the temple and how wonderful it is, we do not want anyone to be rushed to going to the temple and taking those covenants upon them before they are ready.
Just as our earthly parents, Heavenly Father wants us to be successful and He has given us the tools to do it. But just like our earthly parents, when we promise them something, He is going to hold us to our promises. It's really not a new concept, after all, don't you hold your friends and family members responsible for the things they say they are going to do? I don't understand why people get so surprised when they realize that God expects certain things out of them.
God does not leave us helpless and will be there to support us no matter what. All He asks of us in return is that we do as He asks and that we follow through on our commitments to Him. That's really not a lot and only requires some small sacrifices of things that we don't really need and in most cases don't even really want. And who else when we give so little gives back SO much in return? Why wouldn't you want to take Him up on that promise? Until tomorrow.
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