As I have been coming along in my faith journey and had many experiences and opportunities to learn from others discover new information and have spiritual experiences, all of which can lead to either desirable or undesirable outcomes depending on which spirit I hearken unto, I can’t help but think how many shiny objects or better put, happenings are occurring in a day when increasing light is had and an enormous amount of counterfeit is arrayed at the truth seeker. This constant buffering be it; new revelation, new information about a church that is abusing its members in the name of God, constant academic thought and theorizing about what these mean and talking amongst ourselves, we tend to ignore the more salient and important commands we have been given.

“And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon. And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.” (2 Nephi 2:14-16)

We have been commanded to seek the Lord and commune with Him. What happens when we become sidetracked and not mindful of our purposes. What are we supposed to accomplish with this mortal probation that has been given us?

“And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.” (Alma 12:9-11)

Are our hearts hard when we give not heed and diligence to the portion of light we have been given? When we receive light and know what it is the lord wants for us and begin to gain a clearer picture of the truth of God, it necessarily drives out darkness and makes error plain as day. It’s important to know what’s going on in the world and be wise. It’s for our benefit in a world full of counterfeit options that prey on our emotions and motivations. When we see these errors, do those errors become the object of our focus or do we turn to the Lord and seek more light and knowledge? If the Adversary or Satan decides to distract everyone who is paying attention to the fallibility of man, its crumbling institutions and keep their minds out of communion with God and focused on the little light we have magnifying the fallibility of man instead pondering the things of God, could he likewise influence us to lose light and get stuck in a cycle of repetitive captivity? 

“And now, my brethren, I would that, after ye have received so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, ye come forth and bring fruit unto repentance. Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you. For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked. And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb” (Alma 34:30-36)

Now is the time for us to work out our salvation. Now is the time to look to the Lord and seek to accomplish his will. We can know what is occurring in the world and see how incredibly distraught its present situation is and we could focus on it with immense scrutiny (I have been guilty of this) or we can take what truth and light we have and build upon it by doing what the lord has asked of us. We can apply ourselves to the doing of what we profess and know to be right.  This is the day of our labors. Are we allowing; by these distractions, that night in which no labor can be performed, an early entrance by which we can be taken captive?

This blog is named heed and diligence because:

1. If we seek to have salvation, we must give heed to what the lord has given us.
2. To give heed we must be diligent in the application of what we have received. The commandments, our personal commandments (what the lord has promoted us to do) and to be not only hearers of the word but doers also.(James 1:22-25)

Each person has the immense task of coming to know the lord. Refining themselves and dealing with a world that would bring them into utter captivity by diverse and nefarious means masquerading as “good” things of the world. 

It is therefore important to be careful what we choose to give our attention to and what we look to and bring into our bodies. 

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:22-24)

Let’s hearken unto the Holy one in whom we place our hope and confidence that; as we draw near unto him, he will draw near unto us distilling upon us pure knowledge until we have the opportunity to be called his sons.