This is a talk that I was asked to prepare and present in my ward a few weeks ago, and I have been meaning to post it on here to share with you. I was asked to speak on "Seeking first the Kingdom of God" which is kind of a broad topic, and as I put it together it ended up being more focused on overcoming the Natural man, but here it is.
In Luke Chapter 12 Jesus taught his disciples through a parable in which he says:
"The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
While all of us may not be farmers, we can all still relate to this man who wanted to hold tightly onto the fruit of his labors. It is natural for man and woman to feel entitled to what we have produced or earned through hard work and diligence. It is also natural for us to feel proud of what we have done or accomplished in life. Our wants and desires also come very naturally to us, after all were only human right? So when we get our pay checks it is only fair that we use that hard earned money to fulfill our desires and wants, and of course when we have done really well we should be able to reward ourselves by getting a bigger house, a faster car, or a new boat. Because how else will everyone else know of our great achievements, if they can't see us moving up in the world?
While this feeling of self entitlement comes to us naturally, we must learn to overcome it because as it says in Mosiah 3:19
"The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."
In follow up to the parable, Jesus said unto his disciples, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
As we try to further relate this parable to our own lives and situations, ask and ponder to yourselves what are the things, that you treasure most in this life, and where do the desires of your heart lie? Do they bring you closer to your savior Jesus Christ and your Heavenly Father? Can you take them with you after this life? How do the help or hinder your eternal progression? Are our desires and wants in accordance with our Heavenly Fathers?"
I know for me personally as I pondered these questions about my own personal desires and wants, that not all of them are helping to me to progress forward beyond this life into eternity. Despite having desires to follow Christ and return to live with our Heavenly Father, worldly desires often cloud our judgement. And when this occurs the natural man overcomes us as we seek out our selfish desires.
As we read earlier in Mosiah, "The natural man is an enemy to God" so if our selfish desires comes from the natural man within us, they to are an enemy unto God. Elder Neal A. Maxwell had this to say about selfishness:
"Selfishness is much more than an ordinary problem because it activates all the cardinal sins! It is the detonator in the breaking of the Ten Commandments.
By focusing on oneself, it is naturally easier to bear false witness if it serves one’s purpose. It is easier to ignore one’s parents instead of honoring them. It is easier to steal, because what one wants prevails. It is easier to covet, since the selfish conclude that nothing should be denied them.
It is easier to commit sexual sins, because to please oneself is the name of that deadly game in which others are often cruelly used. The Sabbath day is easily neglected, since one day soon becomes just like another. If selfish, it is easier to lie, because the truth is conveniently subordinated.
The selfish individual thus seeks to please not God, but himself. He will even break a covenant in order to fix an appetite.
Selfishness has little time to regard the sufferings of others seriously, hence the love of many waxes cold."
So how can we overcome these desires and align them with our a Heavenly Fathers? Well
Elder Maxwell addressed this as well, he said:
"Unchecked selfishness thus stubbornly blocks the way for developing all of the divine qualities: love, mercy, patience, long-suffering, kindness, graciousness, goodness, and gentleness. Any tender sprouts from these virtues are sheared off by sharp selfishness. Contrariwise, brothers and sisters, I cannot think of a single gospel covenant the keeping of which does not shear off selfishness from us!"
He also went on to say:
"One of the last, subtle strongholds of selfishness is the natural feeling that we “own” ourselves. Of course we are free to choose and are personally accountable. Yes, we have individuality. But those who have chosen to “come unto Christ” soon realize that they do not “own” themselves. Instead, they belong to Him. We are to become consecrated along with our gifts, our appointed days, and our very selves. Hence, there is a stark difference between stubbornly “owning” oneself and submissively belonging to God. Clinging to the old self is not a mark of independence, but of indulgence!
The Prophet Joseph promised that when selfishness is annihilated, we “may comprehend all things, present, past, and future."
In Elders a quorum a couple of weeks ago our lesson was centered on an article form President David O. McKay, entitled: A Personal Interview with the Savior in which he is speaking to the brethren of the church and he says: "Let me assure you, Brethren, that some day you will have a personal priesthood interview with the Savior himself."
In which he says, "I will tell you the order in which he will ask you to account for your earthly responsibilities.
And as we discussed in Elders quorum, not a single one of these questions, pertains to worldly accumulation or authority, but each of these questions leaves us accountable for the things that we did in this life that will help us progress forward in eternity with our Heavenly Father.
So as I prepared this talk I thought that these questions could helpful in aligning our desires with our Heavenly Fathers' as we try to better seek the kingdom of God.
Here were the six questions:
"First, he will request an accountability report about your relationship with your wife. Have you actively been engaged in making her happy and ensuring that her needs have been met as an individual?"
Second, he will want an accountability report about each of your children individually. He will not attempt to have this for simply a family stewardship but will request information about your relationship to each and every child."
With both of these questions we can see the value God places on family. So by putting the needs of our family over our own needs we can learn fight off the selfishness of our own desires.
"Third, he will want to know what you personally have done with the talents you were given in the preexistence."
While the natural man may want us to believe that we have no talent at all, or that what talents we do have that we have built them up ourselves while giving no credit to God. But it is important that we learn what talents we have been given and develop them as we seek out the kingdom of God.
"Fourth, he will want a summary of your activity in your Church assignments. He will not be necessarily interested in what assignments you have had, for in his eyes the home teacher and a mission president are probably equals, but he will request a summary of how you have been of service to your fellow man in your Church assignments."
I think this one is important as it reminds that even righteous desires can be corrupted by selfishness. It is important that as we continually work to build up the kingdom of God that our reason for doing so is pure, and that we are not seeking recognition or glory for doing so.
"Fifth, he will have no interest in how you earned your living but if you were honest in all your dealings.
Sixth, he will ask for an accountability on what you have done to contribute in a positive manner to your community, state, country, and the world."
As Mentioned earlier if you can't bring it with you after this life, it's not going to help you in seeking out the Kingdom of God, so don't sacrifice your eternal progression, to try and raise up your earthly stature. But instead contribute to the well being of all those around you, and like Elder Maxwell said "we belong to him" and as we submit our will to his, it is then that we can overcome the natural man and seek the kingdom of God.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment