Almost

A little over a week ago (or longer, I don't remember), a sister in my ward gave a talk that included a very interesting point that centers around the word "almost." She said that if we almost keep the commandments, then we almost get the blessings that come from keeping the commandments. Clearly, the message was that we should keep the commandments if we want to get the blessings, but this teaching led me to wonder, can we move the "almost" and have the sentence still be true? If we keep almost all the commandments, will we get almost all the blessings God offers us?

Theoretically, perhaps. Each blessing is predicated on a commandment. If we keep a commandment, with get the blessing that goes with that commandment. Theoretically, the more commandments we keep, the more blessings we get. Yet "more" doesn't always add up to "almost all" or even "most."

God offers us a lot of blessings, and many of them are locked behind stricter requirements than just "keep this one specific commandment." Some of God's best blessings, like living in the Celestial Kingdom, require a pattern of obedience to many of God's commandments and a commitment to try to keep them all. And what is arguably the greatest of all the gifts of God, eternal life, is locked behind the requirement of perfection.

In fact, that might be enough to prove the argument right there. It's unclear how to quantify blessings, but I doubt we'd count omnipotence as just one blessing, like a single talent. Omnipotence could almost be counted as infinite talents, and thus be counted as infinite blessings, meaning that "almost all" of God's commandments require incredibly high standards, not just keeping some or most or even "almost all" of the commandments. If we want to get all the blessings that come from obedience, or even most of those blessings, we are going to have to (at least make a diligent effort to) keep all the commandments.

The bottom line is that "almost" isn't good enough. Whether we're almost keeping the commandments or whether we're keeping almost all of them, neither way will qualify us for almost all of God's blessings. Exact obedience is difficult, and repentance will be required, but it is the blessing we should all strive for. Almost all of God's blessings depend on it.