Elder Henry B. Eyring goes on to say… “The key is in the words of Nephi. . . It might surprise you that in a passage on being clean would be the key to gaining the Holy Ghost as your constant companion. It shouldn’t surprise you, though, because in all but a few references to the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures, the cry to be clean is close by. The pairing of spiritual cleanliness and gift of the Spirit, the power to know and speak truth, becomes plain in the words of Nephi.
Nephi wanted to know for himself that what his father had said he had seen in a vision was true. His father had seen the fearsome landscape we move across in life, either toward eternal life or toward forever being shut our from the Father. Nephi knew he had to know for himself. This is how he pursued the truth:
17 And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God—and the Son of God was the Messiah who should come—I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children of men.
18 For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him. (1 Nephi 10:17-18)
Now you can see why President Ezra Taft Benson, a modern prophet of God, repeatedly taught us to read the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is the most powerful written testimony we have that Jesus is the Christ. What did Nephi say was the basis for receiving the Holy Ghost? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Will reading the Book of Mormon now and then ensure faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? You wouldn’t count on it if you read Nephi carefully. He said the Holy Ghost is “the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him.” Diligently surely means regularly. And it surely means pondering and praying. And the praying will surely include a fervent pleading to know the truth. Anything less would hardly be diligent. And anything less will not be enough for you and for me.
That diligence will allow faith to grow, and then will come a desire to repent and a confidence that forgiveness is possible only through the ordinance of baptism, performed by God’s authorized servants, and by our then keeping the covenants we make with God.
If you are not yet a member of the Church, you are required to seek baptism by those who hold the priesthood of God. If you have been baptized, it means diligently keeping the covenants.
Each week you and I can hear in the sacramental prayer the promise we so much need to see fulfilled: ” And always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them.” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77.)
From kdm… this is a lot to take in. I’m sending it sort of slowly… if you’re like me, there’s a tendency to blow on past even the best counsel, when in a hurry or there may be a tendency to think, “Oh, that’s interesting,” then move on without much more thought. That in mind, after continuing Elder Eyring’s comments, I’ll share an adjustment of my own, that has been encouraged by our leaders periodically and for me, should have been in place decades ago. I hope that each reader will not make the same mistake I have, but will follow that simple counsel by forming a new habit (if not already in place) which will make all the difference… and not waste decades of time and opportunity. k
continued tomorrow. . . .
