“Spend your time at nothing which you know must be repented of.” ~Richard Baxter
There are different levels of sin/disharmony with God. ‘Spend your time’ suggests deliberate planning to do things against His will. While built in human weakness, daily unplanned mistakes cause us to call/depend upon him.
When we internalize this as a ‘destination to meet daily’ and become a little more true to uplifting principles, upward change has to happen. We overcome in that weakness; then another comes into focus to work on, and another and so on… line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. (see D&C 98:12,)
The greatest gift we can give God, when pursued with all our energy is the mindset and tenacity to do His will. When we are sincere, earnest and focused, He opens the path one small piece at a time, returning peace to us when we follow what he says. Embrace each suggestion, live it even in the face of adversity and opposition, and we are prepared for the next small piece. Should we tend to do too much or take a path accordingly to our ‘worldly wisdom’, we deceive ourselves into regression and disappointment. His path will be relatively easy for us and his burden light, when we do it His way (see Matthew 11:29-30). In an eternal sense Christ is the only way. Even in the sense of simply finding his approval, there is no other way! In all things, He is the way the truth and the life, no man (or woman) cometh unto the Father but by Him (see John 14:6).
Man’s wisdom, trusting in false teachings, or the easy undisciplined way will not return us to God’s presence no matter how deeply sincere we are. His yoke is easy and his burden light when He becomes a major player in our lives. Without him, the burdens we carry of sin, or any other of life’s challenges or distractions are much more difficult because our relationship of trust with Him is broken… we no longer have his support in times of trouble. Some may think, “I just want to take a temporary detour and have a little worldly fun.” That’s a dangerous path to pursue. As soon as we give our agency over to the adversary, we risk never returning, or return much weakened when facing temptation again. With Him on our side, we still sin, but it is so different, because he is the good friend coaching and healing us along the way. kdm
