You Reap What you Sow

Satan tries to act like a saw; he tells us we can pick up one
end of the stick without the other...

Growing up I would often wonder a very important question-why did our saw have "Satan" written on it in big, bold, black letters? My mind would run through many possibilities; because it can be dangerous, because it's old, or because Satan most likely has sharp teeth too. One day I finally decided to ask my mother. She laughed and went on to tell me about my Grandpa. My Grandpa has spent many years in educating youth and young adults in the Church, and because of this he has many object lessons up his sleeve. He used to teach lessons on how Satan is like a saw. Often he tells you you can pick up one end of the stick and then he'll come saw off the other-you get to act consequence free. The trick was he had metal under the stick-no matter how hard you sawed that stick would not cut in half-Satan can never rob the laws of the universe and God. You cannot just pick up one end of the stick.
This morning I read a scripture that really brought this concept to heart. It was in Mosiah 7:29-32:
"For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them. And again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison. And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction. And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted."  In other words, "wickedness never was happiness" (Alma 41:10).

God doesn't punish us at harvest,
He simply lets us reap what we sow

A lot of times we take "the truth to be hard"
(1 Nephi 16:1-3) because we know what we are doing is wrong, and deep down, making us miserable. It is literally impossible to live a life out of line with God's will and be happy. Why? Not because God is out to punish us if we don't do it His way, but because God loves us and knows exactly what will and won't make us happy. He lets us know what these things are; they are called commandments. If we feel frustrated because what we want to do seems to not make us happy, its not the laws of God that need a change, its us. It would be like a ship asking a lighthouse to move out of the way.
We cannot expect to sow weeds and reap carrots; it just doesn't make sense. God doesn't make us miserable once harvest hits; He just simply lets us reap what we sow.
I know that God truly is our loving Heavenly Father. Just like any parent He wants nothing more than for us to be truly happy, and He is showing us and pleading with us to follow His path to this joy. Because He loves us He will never tell us what we want to hear, but rather beg, plead, and even at times sternly tell us what will make our lives better and more fulfilled. When we understand and feel His love for us we will want to follow His commandments, because we know that these things will make us happy. We will know which seeds to sow.

More on this:
Love and Law by Dallin H. Oaks

Iocane poison and boiling frogs...

Growing up there was a tradition I had; fake sick and watch the Princess Bride. OK, so maybe some of the time I really was sick but regardless anytime I stayed home due to illness I would watch the Princess Bride. Maybe it was because the kid in it was also sick as he heard the story, or maybe I just really like pirates and Medieval Times, but either way it was tradition. I watched it over and over and over again til to this day most of it is still quotable almost as second nature. One part that I loved to watch was when our hero, Wesley, plays the game of wits with the villinous kidnapper Vizzini. In this game (sorry if I spoil the movie for you) the two players sit with goblets of wine. One goblet has poison in it that is tasteless and ordorless. Both players talk with eachother long enough for the one that did not put the poison in the cups to decide which cup he wants to drink from. Then they drink and the winner lives and the loser...not so much. And so Wesley and Viccini go back and forth, back and forth, until Vizzini distracts Wesley, then switches the cups. He then has them drink the cup in front of them. Wesley announces that Vizzini chose wrong, all the while Vizzini laughs at Wesley, telling him he switched the cups. Admist his laughter he dies... Why? Wesley poisoned both cups! And why didn't Wesley die? Because slowly over years he'd taken small amounts of the iocane poison and worked up to the point where he was immune to it; hence he just poisoned both cups knowing he could not lose.

The reason I love this part was because it amazed me how Wesley had the patience to work up that immunity slowly over time. Because he did so he was able to be prepared for that event; if he hadn't prepared that would've been a terrifying conversation with a 50-50 chance of success. Yet, because he was prepared he could sit back, relax, and be confident he would come out on top. My companion pointed out to me a few days ago that Wesley's experience can be applied to the gospel.

Often we hope to have "instant" faith or to take a "leap" of faith. But she pointed out to me a leap of faith is not really taking some hair-raising jump off of a cliff; what it really is taking a step or jump from one rock to another accross a river or gap. Its really a bunch of little leaps to get us to where God wants us to be. Just like Wesley had to slowly little by little increase his iocane intake to eventually be prepared for his "game of wits" we too must learn the gospel little by little (except the cool part is the gospel isn't poisonous like iocane) so that we can be ready for our tests of faith or "game of wits". When we do this we won't have to worry about making it through them or not; we like Wesley, can sit back and relax and let our preparation do all the work for us. We can learn the gospel "line upon line, precept upon precept" (Isaiah 28:10 or 2 Nephi 28:30) until we can know "the truth of all things by the power of the Holy Ghost" (Moroni 10:5). When we realize this we learn to be more patient as we strive to build our faith and testimony because we realize it is a process and not an event.

Now this analogy could very well go the other way. The problem with Satan is he likes to mimic all that God does. Just as we can learn the gospel little by little, we can also lose our faith in it little by little. The counterfit to Wesley's experience could be likened to boiling a frog. I think most of us have heard about how you can throw a frog into boiling water and he'll jump right out BUT if you put him in cool water and let it heat gradually he'll stay in there even as it reaches a boiling point and the frog will eventually be cooked. Satan often works the same way with us. He gets us to take tiny but calculated steps away from God. He starts small, smaller than I think any of us can imagine, because he knows the second he heats the water too fast we will jump out and he'll lose us. That is why we must be constantly watchful and mindful of our lives (Mosiah 4:30), otherwise we will risk being bound by "flaxen cords" over and over again until Satan has us "bound forever" (2 Nephi 28:22).

So let us be Wesleys not frogs as we change ourselves little by little and slowly work up to become all that we can become! Because remember, "by small and simple things (good or bad) great things come to pass" (Alma 36:7).
For more about gaining a knowledge and faith read Elder Bednar's talk on recieving revelation. Or just watch the clip below: