Recently the leaders of our Church have issued us with a mandate to 'Hear Him'. In Section 45 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord talks a lot about hearts. He also gives us, the members of His Church, a glimpse of the days as they will be before His appearing. Prefacing this glimpse, the Saviour admonishes, "Hear my voice" and "harden not your hearts" (v 6). He then proceeds to elaborate on the state of men's hearts in the last days. In the midst of all the commotion in the world today, nothing is more obvious than the Saviour's prophecy that 'men's hearts shall fail them' (v 26) and that their hears will be turned from Him because of the precepts of men (v 29).
Right now the world is filled with hatred. Opposing the Saviour's commandment to 'love one another, as I have loved you' (John 13:34), the adversary has succeeded in creating division amongst the people through wars, political agendas and health scares. We are fast becoming distrustful of one another through the present pandemic, intolerant of each other's political convictions, fearful of Government powers and judgmental of each other's successes. So bleak will things get that we are told "....men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword, one against another, and they will kill one another"(v 33).
And now for the hope that lies in us: "But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved...." (v 32). Elder Bednar has once said that when you gain entrance to another's heart, you stand on holy ground. Could we not then count each other's hearts as holy places too? I don't think we can turn the tide as the Saviour has already outlined the future as it will be, but I am pretty sure we, as His disciples, can be the means of saving many, and there is a way. This way is to resist Satan's opposition to Christ's commandment to love one another. And here is the interesting part. Have you ever wondered why the Saviour's said 'love one another' and not 'love everyone'? Quite simply, it is far too hard for us mortals to love 'everyone' at once. It is far easier to love one person at a time and by loving one person at a time, we end up loving well......everyone. Imagine this simple scenario. If each one of us loves five people and those five people love five people each and those five people love five people each and so on. The energy of this love would be spread so far and wide that in the end we would love 'everyone'. In this world of ours, could we not turn the tide of failing hearts for many?
And what is the ultimate goal of loving others? Simply this: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples....." (John 13:35). Our love is the greatest tool by which we can bring others to the fountain of all love; the love that brings peace, the love that brings salvation, the love that brings eternal life. The love of a God who has loved us and died for us that we might be glorified and have eternal joy in the mansions of Him who has loved us best.
- Cathryne Allen, Did Not Our Hearts Burn When He Opened To Us The Scriptures?
published 2021 by amazon.com
