TO SEE HIS FACE

 

“If we want a real testimony, if we want to seek God until we find Him, even if we want eternal life – all these things can be ours, if we desire them, so long as we do not desire other things more. We show what we really want by what we do, not just by what we say.

“So if we say we desire to grow in our faith, but the way we live suggests otherwise, we probably want something else more than we want eternal life. It might be our friends. It might be physical pleasures. Or it might only be that we don’t want the Church bothering us with meetings and rules and guilt trips.

“Whatever it is we want so much, we are likely some day to have it. Not only will the righteous desires of our hearts be granted, the unrighteous desires of our hearts will also be granted. Over the long run, our most deeply held desires will govern our choices, one by one and day by day, until our lives finally add up to what we have really wanted.”

-        Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “The Believing Heart”, p 22-23

My question is this. How many of us have the faith that we can have what we desire? How many of us think our desires are feasible? How many of us would dare desire to see God in this life? Do we think it possible? Well, actually it is.

At the Last Supper, Jesus told His disciples that He will manifest himself to anyone who loves Him and keeps His commandments. When the disciples asked how that is possible that He will manifest himself to them and not to the whole world, Jesus answered: “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our above with him.”  (John 14:21-23).

This personal appearance to anyone is alluded to in Doctrine and Covenants also where the Saviour said: “I am in your midst…..and the day cometh that you shall hear my voice and see me and know that I am” (D&C 50:44,45).

If you think you need to be a prophet or someone of great importance in the Church to see God, consider this: “It shall come to pass that EVERY soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth my name and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am” (D&C 93:1).

And if you think that this does not apply to this life, consider the scripture where the Saviour tells us that if we strip ourelves from jealousies and fears, and humble ourselves before Him, ‘the VEIL shall be rent and we shall see Him and know that He is’ (D&C 67:10).

It is the veil of forgetfulness that was ‘taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared’ whereby he was able to see the Saviour before him (Ether 3:6). It is the veil that separates us from the literal presence of God and it is something that exceeding faith and righteous state of a person can remove:

“And there were MANY whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad.” (Ether 12:19)

If we desire to see God, we can, “so long as we do not desire other things more”………….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Christ by Jechoon Choi)