The third section of this week’s lesson by President Kimball is subheaded “The gospel of Jesus Christ charts our course back to our Heavenly Father”. Here, President Kimball expands on how the laws and ordinances of the gospel, coupled with the atoning power of Christ and the power of forgiveness in our lives, bring us home to dwell with Heavenly Father again. Over and over he stresses that there is no other way to return to our Father except through Christ.
So many subjects came to my mind as I studied this section that deciding on one was nearly impossible. But as I read back through each quote, I realized that most touched briefly on the subject of enduring to the end.
The first scripture that leapt to mind came from 2 Nephi 31:20. As I skimmed the chapter, I took particular note of verses 15-21. In this section, Nephi repeats the phrase “endure to the end” three times as he discusses the gate that puts us on the straight and narrow path. Wow, three times. Do you think Nephi repeated himself because it was important? Possibly.
As members of the church, we have walked through the gate of baptism and put our feet squarely on the path. But in a gospel that stresses agency, we find a path that does not force us to continue to follow. Neither the baptismal gate nor marriage in the temple ensure a celestial role for us. We must be consistent in following the path, despite the mists of darkness Satan sends in his efforts to make us stray.
I found a quote in the Book of Mormon Institute manual (told you I was a nerd) that seems to pertain to this subject. In the 1950 General Conference, Elder Bruce R. McConkie says:
Sometimes someone will say: ‘Well, I have been baptized into the Church; I am a member of theChurch; I’ll just go along and live an ordinary sort of life; I won’t commit any great crimes; I’ll live a
reasonably good Christian life; and eventually I will gain the kingdom of God.’
I don’t understand it that way. I think that baptism is a gate. It is a gate which puts us on a path; and the name of the path is the straight and narrow path. The straight and narrow path leads upward from
the gate of baptism to the celestial kingdom of heaven. After a person has entered the gate of baptism, he has to press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, as Nephi expresses it, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men; and if he
endures to the end, then he gains the promised reward.
So we have come through the gate, and perhaps trod down the path a ways. How do we make sure that we are enduring to the end? We must constantly re-evaluate ourselves. Have you ever been lost in the woods? If you just walk forwards, you will wind up changing directions or even going in circles. Instead, you must pick a point a short distance in front of where you stand and walk towards it. Then you look back the way you came and choose a point in line with that, ensuring a reasonably straight line.
Our progression in the gospel is much the same way. We must constantly stop and evaluate where we are and where we want to go. Our daily prayers provide a wonderful opportunity; if that fails, then our weekly sacrament meetings also give us a chance to constantly reassess. But unlike the lost wanderer, we also have the Holy Ghost to light our path. We need not wander blindly through the woods, but can instead use this glow to help illuminate the way.
Unlike baptism, enduring to the end is not something that can only be done once. We must constantly repent and strive to improve ourselves. We should be seeking to obtain Christlike attributes. We must determine what changes need to be made in our lives. Then, President Kimball tells us, can we be “carrie(d)… through the veil as though it weren’t there and on through the eternities to exaltation.”
Related Articles:
RS/EQ: Ye Ought ‘Not Procrastinate the Day of Your Repentence’
General Conference: “Holy Scriptures: The Power of God Unto Our Salvation”