With this talk, as with other scripture, you can't get the full message by reading it (or watching it or listening to it) just once. They are layers, tidbits, connections, and symbolism that, not matter how observant you are, you will miss the first time you receive the message. So you read it again. Then you read it again. And each time you read it, you have another chance at catching a hidden gem that you had missed the previous times. The same is true with this talk.
The talk is mostly about missionary service. He said that we need more Aaronic Priesthood holders to be active and worthy, so they can serve missions. In talking about this, he also gave a stirring message on moral worthiness, which had subsequently been turned into a Mormon Message video. Though, as many times as I've watched or read this talk in its entirety, I seem to have missed the "hidden gems" at the beginning and end of the talk.
At the beginning of his talk, Elder Holland reminds us of a part of the Joseph Smith story that I almost always went out of my way to avoid. Just as Joseph Smith knelt down in the grove now called sacred, and just as he began to call upon God in his first personal spoken prayer, he was overcome by the spirit of evil, by the devil himself. In Elder Holland's words:
When we rehearse the grandeur of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, we sometimes gloss over the menacing confrontation that came just prior to it, a confrontation intended to destroy the boy if possible but in any case to block the revelation that was to come. ...
Joseph recorded that in an effort to oppose all that lay ahead, Lucifer exerted “such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak.” ...
Satan cannot directly take a life. That is one of many things he cannot do. But apparently his effort to stop the work will be reasonably well served if he can just bind the tongue of the faithful. Brethren, if that is the case, I am looking tonight for men young and old who care enough about this battle between good and evil to sign on and speak up.
Then Elder Holland spoke of Missionary Work, the need for more missionaries, and the need for those missionaries to be morally clean. But as we learned the other night, Missionary Work is not a task given exclusively to full-time missionaries. Every member of this church is meant to be a missionary. At the end of Elder Holland's talk, he said (and I didn't mention this before, but he was speaking in a Priesthood Session. I personally believe that his message applies to all members.) :
From every man, young and old, who bears the priesthood, I ask for a stronger and more devoted voice, a voice not only against evil and him who is the personification of it, but a voice for good, a voice for the gospel, a voice for God. Brethren of all ages, unbind your tongues and watch your words work wonders in the lives of those “who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.”
As I read that paragraph, I thought to myself, "I hope they can find it here, on my blog." I thought about what I share on my blog on a daily basis. Are the messages that I share here true? If so, are they the kind of truths that can lead people to the Gospel? I'd like to think that maintaining this blog is a simple way of doing some small form of missionary work, but does it really count?
Another tidbit I caught out of this last paragraph is that Elder Holland asked "for a stronger and more devoted voice, a voice not only against evil and him who is the personification of it, but a voice for good, a voice for the gospel, a voice for God." (Emphasis Added)
When I consider the battle for our souls, to me it's always been a battle against Satan. How do we block ourselves from his attacks? How do we strike back and put him on the defensive? How do we defeat our enemy? For me, it has always been anti-enemy. Now I believe the spirit, through the voice of Elder Holland, is asking me to be less Anti-Satan and more Pro-God. As Elder Holland said, "We don’t talk about the adversary any more than we have to, and I don’t like talking about him at all," Perhaps I ought to try to follow that example.
We should never make the mistake of forgetting that Satan exists. Those who do frequently find themselves being influenced by him. But perhaps it would be better if I didn't put so much focus on him. The ultimate goal isn't to overcome Satan (though that is an essential part of the plan). The ultimate goal is to become like Jesus Christ. Maybe I ought to focus my blog more fully on Him. I want this blog to be what God would want it to be, and now I think that that God would want it to be "a voice not only against evil and him who is the personification of it, but a voice for good, a voice for the gospel, a voice for God."
1 comment:
Did you ask spell check about re-watched instead of rewatched? Just curious. I think that's what it prefers.
Your comments about re-reading scriptures and counsel of the brethren are right on. We sometimes get lazy and think "I read it. It was great. Move on." But we need to go back. We sometimes forget. Sometimes our perspective or needs change. And sometimes we just find thing we missed the previous time(s). Do you think they add stuff when we are not looking?
You are right, too, that we cannot ultimately triumphant just by fighting Satan. We can only win by looking to Christ and following Him.
Thank you for bringing a little more light into my life.
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