Today I read Luke 12, which the majority of the chapter is spent with Jesus telling His disciples, and everyone, to prepare for the Second Coming of the Lord. Obviously it is meant more for us in our day and age than it was meant for His Apostles then since they are not even close to being near the time of the Second Coming, however if everyone were to put into practice the things the Savior is teaching them about being prepared, then the world would be a wonderful place.
Now, we have discussed in detail, many times already in the past why it is needful for us to be prepared for the Second Coming, or for those of us who won't live to see it, to be prepared to meet the Lord after we die. It is of course because it is all about what type of person we are, not what a scale of how many good things or bad things we have done in this life. We have to be the right type of person. It's interesting to me that as kids, the child who is usually perceived as being perfect or too good is the child that gets picked on out of jealousy because the other children are not as good as they are.
I wonder where such thoughts come from. Why is it human nature to taunt and harass those who are better or more spiritual than we are? I am sure Satan has something to do with it, but we can see it in children who are under the age of accountability and are thus not able to be tempted by Satan, so there must be more to it than just straight temptations. Something resonates within us when we see those who are doing what we know we should be doing and it makes us ashamed of ourselves. Most people do not like to feel ashamed so I assume that is why it then turns to jealousy and taunting.
It is not easy to live a good life, especially in this day and age. There is sin all around us, and as someone recently so aptly put it, you pretty much have to work to avoid sin, especially pornography these days. Whereas in the past you had to seek it out, pornography has become so prevalent in our society these days that you now have to work to avoid it because it WILL find you, one way or another. Case in point, when I was a missionary, for the first few months of the mission, there was a mission rule that you had to do 30 minutes of exercise of your choice. It only lasted about 4 months but for those 4 months we did everything from karate, sit ups and push ups to running. Well, one day we were running for our work out, and it was about 6:15 am. We ran past a bus stop bench just on the side of the road and there was something on the bench. I was about 5 feet behind my companions, we were in a threesome at the time, and just as I got to the bench and look down to see what it was, I hear one of them tell me to don't look down. Well, it was too late and it was a box that had contained a pornographic movie as was evidenced by the picture on the back of the box. Even as a missionary, not watching TV, going on the internet, and just trying to be good and follow the rules of the mission, pornography found us. And that was not the first time that we were faced with pornography as a missionary, although it was the first time in my mission.
The only way to stay clean and pure in this life is to work at it. It has to be your goal and you have to want it badly enough, because otherwise, you will fall. It's so disgusting and disturbing to me how all the most popular TV shows in America these days all focus on sex, violence or drugs, or worse, all three. I work for a cable company and so I get to see firsthand a lot of new shows that are coming out and get to preview them and it is safe to say that 90% of them are not worth a good Latter-day Saint's time. And yet those are usually the shows that get the best ratings and do the best on TV. It is a very, very sad commentary on our culture that such is the case.
I once had a history professor when I was in college, back in 2001 state that perhaps the best test of your character would be to print out a list of websites that you have been to, along with the length of time you stayed at that website, because anyone can land on a pornographic website by accident. But when it happens do you turn it off immediately, or do you linger? Do you spend a lot of time on www.lds.org? Or do you find yourself wasting time on places like Facebook? Being ready for the Lord's second coming is more than just avoiding sin, it is about being anxiously engaged in a good cause. We do look at, listen, or watch pornography in any of its many, many formats? Or do we spend our time reading our scriptures or spending time with our families? It's no secret what it takes to be prepared to meet Jesus Christ, the scriptures state it over, and over again, we just need to choose to do it or not. And the more we choose to participate in those things that will draw us closer to Him, the easier it gets, and vice versa. But remember, you cannot serve God and Mammon. We most certainly have to make a choice, and we do it by our actions and where we spend out time. Choose wisely. Until tomorrow.
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