Today I read Romans 15 where Paul continues to counsel the Saints to uplift one another and not be a stumbling block to them. Nothing really stood out to me in this chapter. It got me thinking about Paul though and how he fulfilled his duty to God and did all that he was asked to do. I sometimes think about the ancient prophets and Apostles and compare my life to theirs. For example, Alma the Younger was redeemed because he turned his life around and literally spent the remainder of his life atoning for the sins he had committed in his youth. He spent a few years in the judgment seat but afterwards he spent the rest of his life preaching the gospel among his people.
Ammon and his brethren did the same. As did Paul and the other Apostles of Christ after His death and resurrection. And I can't help but compare them to my life and how I spend all my time working and trying to provide for my family. I know the times are different now, but I still feel like I should maybe be spending more time on the things of the Lord than I do. It is so easy to get distracted in this life. That is why the Apostles sometimes will talk about choosing between that which is good and that which is best. The most resent Apostle to talk about it was Elder Dallin H. Oaks. In this world of distractions we are constantly faced with choices on what on what to spend our time on and it won't always be a clear cut decision because we might be choosing between two good things.
When faced with a choice I sometimes will remind myself of what is important based on the eternal perspective. When I die, it does not matter how much money I earned. It does matter if I provided for my family though. It won't matter what position I held or what company I worked for, within reason. It will obviously matter if I worked for a tobacco industry or alcohol or something else that is against the commandments of the Lord, but otherwise God doesn't care where we work generally as long as we are providing for our families. It will however matter if I spent time with my family and taught my children the right way to live. It will matter if I fulfilled my callings and helped in the church to do what is expected of me. When I remember which of these things the Lord is truly concerned about, it becomes easier to make the right choice and to do what is expected of me.
I find that he older I get, the more weight my decisions have. What I mean by that is now that I have children, my decisions and my actions don't just affect me. They will affect my children, maybe even for the rest of their lives and by extension, eternity! If my children see me put off doing my calling or the things of the Lord for selfish reasons, they will remember that and will correctly guess that I don't place much emphasis on the things of God. But, if I rearrange my life to do things for Him and to perform my duties and my callings for the church, they will see that too and will understand that the Lord is first in my life, even above my family. We all know that actions speak louder than words and you can tell your children a million times to do something, but if you don't do it yourself, then you are a hypocrite and your children will pick up on that in a heartbeat. If you are going to talk to the talk, you've got to walk the walk also. The Lord will hold us accountable for the lives we might have influenced if we had been doing what is right. I truly believe that. And you don't want to be in that situation where you might have helped but didn't because your favorite TV show was coming on, I promise you that. Until tomorrow.
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