“Then shall
the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps,
and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And
five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their
lamps, and took no oil with them: But
the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they
all slumbered and slept. And
at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out
to meet him. Then all those virgins
arose, and trimmed their lamps. And
the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are
gone out. But the wise answered,
saying, Not so; lest there be not
enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for
yourselves. And while they went to buy,
the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the
marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying,
Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered
and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the
day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25: 1-13).
Of this parable, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “This parable contrasts the circumstances of
the five foolish and the five wise virgins. All ten were invited to the wedding
feast, but only half of them were prepared with oil in their lamps when the
bridegroom came. The arithmetic of this
parable is chilling. The ten virgins obviously represent members of Christ’s
Church, for all were invited to the wedding feast and all knew what was
required to be admitted when the bridegroom came. But only half were ready when
he came” (Dallin H. Oaks, Preparation
for the Second Coming). The parable
of the 10 virgins is about us, members of Christ’s Church. Christ taught that half of us will be wise
enough to be prepared, but half of us will foolishly not prepare. That is chilling. I don’t think any of us want to be caught
unprepared when the Lord comes again.
How do we spiritually prepare? Pres. Packer said of preparing, “Curiosity is not a preparation. Deep interest itself is not a
preparation. Preparation …includes
preliminary steps: faith, repentance, baptism, confirmation, worthiness, … maturity
and dignity…” (Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple). So faith, repentance, baptism,
confirmation and worthily enduring are how we spiritually prepare. That is the doctrine of Christ.
When should we prepare? Elder Eyring answers that question for
us. He said, “That preparation must be started far in advance because it takes time.
What we will need then can’t be bought. It can’t be borrowed. It doesn’t store
well. And it has to have been used regularly and recently. What we will need in our day of testing is a
spiritual preparation. It is to have developed faith in Jesus Christ so powerful that we can pass the test
of life upon which everything for us in eternity depends. That test is part of
the purpose God had for us in the Creation” (Henry B. Eyring, Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be
Steady). So, the time to prepare is regularly, at all
times. We need to continually be increasing
our faith in Jesus Christ by obedience to his commandments. Elder Eyring goes on to say, “However much faith to obey God we now have,
we will need to strengthen it continually and keep it refreshed constantly. We
can do that by deciding now to be more quick to obey and more determined to
endure. Learning to start early and to be steady are the keys to spiritual
preparation. Procrastination and inconsistency are its mortal enemies.” From that we learn that diligence,
steadiness and consistency are the keys to spiritual preparedness.
We not only need to exercise our faith so we will spiritually
prepared for when the Savior comes again, but we also need to exercise our
faith so we’ll be prepared for the tests, trials, and storms of life that come
our way. Elder Eyring says we need “many experiences of stretching [our] faith
to be obedient. … So [our] faith will be strengthened. … Decisions now to
exercise faith and be steady in obedience will in time produce great faith and
assurance. That is the spiritual preparedness we all will need.
But we must
decide to obey and then do it. We build the faith to pass the tests of
obedience over time and through our daily choices. We can decide now to do
quickly whatever God asks of us. And we can decide to be steady in the small
tests of obedience which build the faith to carry us through the great tests,
which will surely come” (Henry B. Eyring, Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be
Steady).
Last Tuesday night we had a big storm. The morning after the storm as I walked
through the neighborhood I made several observations. There were several trees that fell over in
the storm. Some of the trees were ripped
out of the ground clear down to the roots.
Others had strong enough roots but were snapped in half at the trunk and
the whole top part of the tree blew away.
However most of the trees stood tall and strong and were fine. What was the difference? The trees that had strong roots and that had
been pruned were able to weather the storm.
I pondered a lot about those trees. The ones that were too full and had too many
branches were destroyed. They were not
balanced. Do we have balance? Do we carry too heavy a load? Do we not have enough of a load? Do we have too many things that are
unimportant eternally that get our time and attention? Do we need to lop off a few branches so we
are not carrying a dangerously heavy load?
As we go about pruning our lives it is important
that we don’t lop off the things that matter most. Partaking of the sacrament each week, prayer,
scripture study, family home evening, accepting and fulling callings and
regular temple attendance are things that should not be lopped off. They are the main branches that supply our
roots with enough nourishment to help us stand strong and to be firmly anchored
to Christ. They are the things that
allow us to exercise our faith. I know
that if we go to the Master Gardener, our Heavenly Father, He will direct us to
the things that need to be trimmed out of our lives, whether it is sin, or whether
we are just trying to decide between what is good, what is better, and what is
best. It is important that we do not
judge other people and say, they could do more or they should be doing
less. We cannot see the roots they have. They may be doing all that their roots can
support, or maybe their roots are strong enough to carry the big branches that
they carry.
After the storm, one particular tree, the big tree
that was uprooted in the blue park, really taught me a lesson. That tree was one of the biggest trees in the
neighborhood. It had withstood storms
for years and years, yet it was uprooted and fell over. Why couldn’t it withstand this storm? It couldn’t withstand the storm because it
was not prepared during the storm. It
was prepared in the past, but preparedness doesn’t last forever. It has to be ongoing. Elder Eyring said, “We can choose to sigh with relief and say to ourselves: ‘I have built a
great reservoir of faith by … being steady in obedience. I will store it away
against the times when I will be tested in storms.’ There is a better way to
prepare, because great faith has a short shelf life. We could decide to persist
in studying the words of Christ in the scriptures and the teachings of living
prophets” (Henry B. Eyring, Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be
Steady). So because spiritual preparedness has a short
shelf life, we can’t “retire” and say I’ve done enough.
At one point, all of our lamps once burning brightly,
are they still burning brightly now? Do
we have a reservoir of oil that we are continually using and replacing?
Another lesson I learned about spiritual
preparedness from Tuesday’s storm is the importance of good influences in our
life. Chad and I drove to a church
building to play volleyball while the storm was raging. The winds were blowing so strong when we got
to the building, that it took two people pushing with all their might from inside
the church building to be able to open the doors to get us safely inside. I think that image will stay will me for a
while. We have friends, family, and a
ward family who can help us stay spiritually secure. They can safely help us reach shelter from
the storm. Being part of a family and a
community of saints is a wonderful blessing.
It gives us the chance to serve and be served, to love and to be loved,
to lift burdens and to have our burdens lifted, to be taught and to teach… to
have backup.
One more thing that will help us to be spiritually
prepared is to keep the standards in the For
the Strength of Youth Booklet. Pres.
Uchtdorf says, “Some of the most
important guidelines for your life are found in the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth. The physical appearance of this little paper
booklet would qualify it for the scriptural description “Out of small things
proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33). The pamphlet itself has little material value, perhaps just a few
cents. But the doctrine and principles it presents are an invaluable treasure.
You … who are already 18 or older, if you don’t have this booklet anymore, make
sure to get one, keep it, and use it. This little booklet is a gem for any age
group. It contains standards which are sacred symbols representing our
membership in the Church” (Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, See the End from the Beginning).
We never graduate from the standards listed in the For the Strength of
Youth booklet. The standards contained
in it will help us prepare for the Second coming of the Savior. If followed, they will help us feel confident
and comfortable in His presence. We know
“neither the day nor the hour” when the Savior will return but if we follow the
standards the Lord has set in this pamphlet we will be ready. We will not be watching something inappropriate;
we will not be wearing something inappropriate; we will be grateful, repentant,
virtuous, honest, and have clean, kind language.
I know that as we spiritually prepare ourselves
for the Savior’s return and for the storms of life, the Lord will prepare for
us. “Come
unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my
Father” (Enos
1:27).
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