What Must I Do?

www.kevinhinckley.com

A Little Poem…

Mothers are people who cook things, Like breakfast or lunch or a snack;

Dexterous people who hook things Which button or zip up the back.

Mothers are people who blow things, Balloons and kisses and noses;

Green-thumbish people who grow things,

Like ivy and puppies and roses.

Mothers are people who send things, Like letters and strawberry tarts;

Magical people who mend things, Like blue jeans and elbows and hearts.

Mothers are people who find things, Like mittens and homework and germs;

Fussbudget people who mind things, Like cusswords and snowballs and

worms.

Mothers are people who sweep things, Like porches and cobwebs and rugs;

Softhearted people who keep things, Like artwork, report cards, and hugs.

Mothers are people who nurse things, A boy or a girl or a spouse;

And, all in all, there are worse things Than mothers to have in your house.

Prophet Joseph SmithA religion that does

not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation"

(Lectures on Faith 6:7). Why?

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

…the absence of gross sins in our lives can lull us into slackness concerning seemingly small sins.

… [For instance,] the tendency to strike back

whenever we are offended makes us brusque and rude, as if others were functions, not as brothers and sisters.

Thus, excess of ego is like a spreading, toxic spill from which flow all the deadly sins … Small sins spread like that, too.

(Deny Yourselves of All Ungodliness,” Ensign, May 1995, 66)

QuestionDoes an unwillingness to sacrifice, on our part, qualify as a large sin or small sin?

Mark 10

…there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master,

what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

[Jesus Saith] Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions

Joseph F. Smith

The difficulty with the young man [was that]

he had great possessions, and he preferred to rely upon his wealth rather

than forsake all and follow Christ…No man can obtain the gift of eternal life

unless he is willing to sacrifice all earthly things in order to obtain it.

(Gospel Doctrine, 261)

Jesus continues His lesson

And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly [difficult] shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus … saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible

Neal MaxwellJesus counseled us, too, concerning materialism and "the deceitfulness of riches", and of how hard it is for those who trust in riches and materialism to enter into the kingdom of God. . . .

Can those who are diverted by riches or the search for riches and thus fail to discern the real purposes of life be safely trusted with greater dominions which call for even greater discernment?

(Thanks Be to God," Ensign, July 1982, p. 53)

Doctrine and Covenants 56

Behold, thus saith the Lord unto my people—you have many things to do and to repent of; for behold, your sins have come up unto me, and are not pardoned, because you seek to counsel in your own ways.

And your hearts are not satisfied. And ye obey not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness.

Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!

1828 DictionaryA virulent, corroding ulcer; or any thing that corrodes, corrupts or destroys

Joseph F. Smith

God is not a respecter of persons. The rich man may enter into the kingdom of heaven as freely as the poor,if:

-he will bring his heart and affections into subjection to the law of God,

-his heart upon the truth, and -his soul upon the accomplishment of God’s

purposes, and not fix his affections and his hopes upon the things of this world.

(Gospel Doctrine, 260-61)

President KimballFew men have ever knowingly and deliberately chosen to

reject God and his blessings. Rather, we learn from the scriptures that because the exercise of faith has always appeared to be more difficult than relying on things more immediately at hand, carnal man has tended to transfer his trust in God to material things.

Therefore, in all ages when men have fallen under the power of Satan and lost the faith, they have put in its place a hope in the "arm of flesh" and in "gods of

silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know" -- that is, in idols. …

Whatever thing a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn't also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry. (The False Gods we Worship)

Elder Featherstone

There was a Filipino woman in Manila. I was standing in my office, and I looked down to see her walking on two very heavily calloused knees dragging two crippled legs behind her going to the temple. I called downstairs to Bishop Santos and asked him how long it would take him to find and buy a new wheelchair. He said it would take a little over an hour. I asked him, "Will you go out and buy a new wheelchair and take it over to the temple? You'll see a woman coming out walking on her knees. I'd like you to present it to her."

He left and came back with the wheelchair and put it behind a pillar of the temple. As the woman came out, he went up to her and asked, "Do you have a wheelchair?"

She began to weep and said, "No. I used to, but it wore out and fell apart. I'll never be able to afford another one as long as I live."

He replied, "How would you like a wheelchair?"This wonderful woman cried. Bishop Santos went behind the pillar

and pulled out the wheelchair, and they lifted her up into it. I watched as they wheeled her across the street to the patron housing. (Things too Wonderful for Me, (BYU Speeches)