Saturday, September 3, 2022

What Path Are You Following?

            My Come, Follow Me studies for this week took me to the book of Proverbs and the book of Ecclesiastes. The title of the lesson was “The Fear of the Lord Is the Beginning of Wisdom.” The lesson suggested that how we study Proverbs and Ecclesiastes can help us to “incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding” (Proverbs 2:2). The lesson was introduced with the following paragraphs. 

In the first chapter of the book of Proverbs, we find these words: “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother” (Proverbs 1:8). Proverbs can be seen as a collection of wise sayings from a loving parent, whose main message is that blessings of peace and prosperity come to those who seek wisdom – particularly the kind of wisdom God offers. But Proverbs is followed by the book of Ecclesiastes, which seems to say, “It’s not that simple.” The Preacher quoted in Ecclesiastes observed that he “gave [his] heart to know wisdom” but still found “vexation of spirit” and “much grief” (Ecclesiastes 1:17-18). In a variety of ways, the book asks, “Can there be real meaning in a world where everything seems vain, temporary, and uncertain.?”


And yet, while the two books look at life from different perspectives, they teach similar truths. Ecclesiastes declares: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). This is the same principle found throughout Proverbs: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. … Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord” (Proverbs 3:5, 7). No matter what life holds, even when it seems confusing and random, it is always better when we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

            There are many principles in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, but I feel impressed to discuss the “path” or “way” on which we should follow to return to the presence of God. Proverbs 3:5-6 states, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 4:26 also discusses a path: “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.”

            I have pondered my “path” over the past days. As I looked back over my life, I realized that I stayed on the “straight and narrow path” for most, if not all, of my life. I may not have always traveled in the center of the path, and I might have slipped off the path with one or both feet at times. However, I was alert enough to recognize that I was off the path and got right back on it.

            I concluded that our perception of the straight and narrow way affects how we feel about it. If we feel that the path is too narrow or one where we must always watch where we place our feet, we may have negative feelings about following the path. However, if we perceive the path as one where we press forward and upward toward our eternal goal, we will enjoy the vistas along the way.

            Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the path as being “a clearly marked corridor to salvation and exaltation – a path of high adventure for the brave, not the intolerant; it is not an ecclesiastical “country club” situated on a narrow theological terrace.” He continued his description as follows: “The way is as wide as infinity in terms of its requirements of love and truth; it confines us only in marking those peril points along the path of life.” He gave the following points to help us continue along the way. 

First, the straight and narrow is a precise path we must pursue – under the terms given by a superintelligence, Jesus Christ. There can be no apologies for this doctrine, because “this is the way, and there is none other way nor name.”

(2 Nephi 31:21.) …


Second, the idea of straightness or exactitude appears in a number of scripture passages as a reflection of universal laws with predictability about what obedience or disobedience to the laws will produce. Ambiguity is not a helpful thing; God has repeatedly and clearly advised us as to what we must do in order to have eternal life – and in order for us to escape the miseries of sin and the inadequacies of self that the gospel of Jesus Christ is designed to help us overcome….


Third, the simplicity of the saving messages of Jesus Christ poses a special paradox for many people: “… because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.” (1 Nephi 17:41.) Alma warns us not to be “slothful because of the easiness of the way.” (Alma 37:46.) Jacob comments on the human folly of those who are always “looking beyond the mark, (Jacob 4:14), who desire ecclesiastical embroidery on the simple gospel messages. We need to avoid complicating the content of Christ’s clarion call to mankind.


Fourth, even after we have gotten on the straight and narrow way, everything is not done:

And now my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this straight and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.


“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” (2 Nephi 31:19-20. Emphasis added.) We will stray from the path if we do not “press forward” and if we do not develop our capacity to love “all men”!


Only when we are, in the words of Nephi, “reconciled unto Christ” can we enter into the narrow gate, and to continue to “walk in the straight path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation.” (2 Nephi 33:9). Unless we are becoming men of Christ, we will not be able to travel “in a straight and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery.” (Helaman 3:29.)


Fifth, perhaps it is not pedestrians on the straight and narrow path who are narrow, but those who see Christ too narrowly. Spectacular surprise awaits those who see Christ too narrowly, for these individuals shall look upon Christ and ask, in the words of the scripture concerning another, “Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?” (2 Nephi 24:16.) That same attitude of disbelief and surprise will blend when Jesus comes again. Zechariah (Zechariah 13:6) indicates that these are “those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”


Sixth, to risk leaving the straight and narrow way is to risk sliding into sensuality or tumbling into terror – so much so that repeated divine reminders are appropriate. Joshua prepared the children of Israel to receive their inheritance; he was counseled repeatedly and directly by the Lord:


Be strong and of good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.


“Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:6-7.)


This kind of unvaryingness – swerving neither to the right nor the left – is for our own good; it calls upon us to forgo false popularity and a sensuous or selfish lifestyle. Jesus’ forecast concerning the small volume of traffic on the precise path (Matthew 7:13-14) is not an outcome a loving Savior would want for “few there be that find it.”

            Heavenly Father wants all of us to get on the path and to stay on the path. He sent His Belove Son, even Jesus Christ, to earth to help us find the path and to follow it. One of the ways that Christ helps us to find the path and to stay on it is the scriptures.

Our lesson last week covered the last third of the book of Psalms. One of the principles in that section of scripture is found in this scripture: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). If we will read, study, and ponder the scriptures – including the Bible, the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, we will find the path and have the courage and strength to follow it.

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