Jesus Christ said
"he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
To endure means “to
remain firm in a commitment to be true to the commandments of God despite
temptation, opposition, and adversity.”
Even those who have
had powerful spiritual experiences and have given faithful service could one
day go astray or fall into inactivity if they do not endure to the end. Keep in
your mind and heart the phrase “This will not happen to me.”
When Jesus Christ
taught in Capernaum, “many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with
him.
“Then Jesus said unto
the twelve, Will ye also go away?”
Many of us have made
sacred covenants with Jesus Christ and he may ask us, “Will ye also go away?”
The response Simon
Peter said when this question was asked I hope would be ours: “Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”
Be faithful to what
you believe and know. If you have not been living according to that knowledge,
change. Sinners who persist in their sins, and do not repent, sink deeper and
deeper into filthiness, until Satan claims them for himself, significantly jeopardizing
their opportunity to repent, to be forgiven, and to be blessed with all the
blessings of eternity.
No one will be able to
make excuses before our Lord, Jesus Christ when that time comes.
When baptized, we make
covenants with the Savior, agreeing to “take upon ourselves the name of Jesus
Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end.”
Sacrament meeting is
one way we can evaluate your determination to serve Him, and the growth of your
faith in Jesus Christ. Others are daily, pray and read the scriptures. Weekly,
partake of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Pay your
tithing and your monthly fast offering.
And throughout your
whole life serve in the work of the Lord.
In Elder Zivic talk he
tells a story, it says.
Several years ago,
while on vacation, I wanted to go kayaking for the first time. I rented a
kayak, and full of enthusiasm, I launched into the sea.
After a few minutes, a
wave overturned the kayak. With a great deal of effort, holding the paddle in
one hand and the kayak in the other, I was able to regain my footing.
I tried again to
paddle my kayak, but just a few minutes later, the kayak tipped over again. I
stubbornly kept on trying, to no avail, until someone who understood kayaking
told me that there must be a crack in the shell and the kayak must have filled
up with water, making it unstable and impossible to control. I dragged the
kayak to the shore and removed the plug, and sure enough, out came a large
amount of water.
I think that at times
we move through life with sins that, like the leak in my kayak, impede our
spiritual progress.
If we persist in our
sins, we forget the covenants we have made with the Lord, even though we keep
capsizing because of the imbalance that those sins create in our lives.
Like the cracks in my
kayak, the cracks in our lives need to be dealt with. Some sins will require
more efforts than others to repent of.
We must strive to obey
the commandments and pay close attention to those that are hardest for us to
keep. The Lord will be at our side, helping us in times of need and weakness,
and if we demonstrate a sincere desire and act accordingly, He will make “weak
things become strong.”
President Craig always
tell us in ZC when he talks about obedience "obedience brings blessings,
but exact obedience brings miracles" exact obedience to God's commandments
will give us the strength to overcome sin.
I know as you do your
best to overcome the hard things in your life that the lord will not leave you
comfortless, he will help you through anything you struggle with.
Enduring to the end is
sometimes as hard as it sounds but I know as you keep and follow the
commandments that making it to the end won't be as hard as it would have been
had you not followed the teachings of Christ. "Obedience brings blessings,
but exact obedience brings miracles." I know each and every one of us can
make it home again. Whatever our personal situation may be, I know heavenly
father and Jesus Christ are there beside you helping you every step of the way
saying "I am with you, you can do this."
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