I’m going to try to explain my feelings here the best I can. I was studying the other day and was reminded of a condition that is important to become worthy of entering Zion—the Law of Consecration.
To start, if you are a temple-going member of the church you know that we all make a promise to live the Law of Consecration. I believe there is not currently a complete expectation to do so otherwise we would all be living some version of the “united order” and all things would be given to the church and distributed among the members. If we honestly lived it, it would be a Zion law that would have us living in more of a utopian-like society.
However, there are aspects of the law we currently live. We accept and fulfill church callings. We donate our tithes and offerings to the church. In short, it is to: “give their time, talents, and material resources to serve the Lord, His Church, and His children.” Not to be confused with the “Firm” or “United Order” but rather our “willingness” to consecrate all that we have to the Lord and the Church. In a sense, today we [most members of the church] promise but haven’t been fully called or commanded. I have always believed the full implementation would be in the millennium.
I realize that if the world fell apart, the LDS people would most likely adopt this law and live it to sustain and support the church and its members. Likewise, if we were called to travel to Zion, we would be required to live by this law as we traveled there. You would need to be that type of person before entering the gates of Zion. I don’t see any other way we could get there.
I have realized more and more within my heart how little you take with you from this mortal life to the next. You return to God as naked and penniless as you began this life. So why should it matter that I have this or that? It doesn’t. My life has often been consumed by the quest for success. I have sought to create businesses, generate wealth, and financial independence. Yet it has always eluded me. I find myself in the same condition I started my adult life—working and dreaming.
As I studied the other day, I came to a realization. I want to be worthy to enter Zion. Like Lehi, I want my family to be there with me. Part of my realization was that to be worthy to enter Zion, I would do well to more fully consecrate myself unto the Lord. But, how can I do this? Do I sell all I have and live in a tent? As I pondered this, I was reminded of what I heard Brother Brad Wilcox say the other day [this post]. He talked about juggling. His obligations [family, work, church, callings] were like balls he was juggling. One day he realized that he could only juggle so many balls at a time. He had to prioritize which balls to juggle. He would follow the spirit and juggle different balls as needed. Sometimes, it was family, sometimes it was Church, and sometimes it was work.
As I pondered. I have a job that I love. I am good at it and I am successful at it. My job allows me to support and sustain my family. I don’t need to be on a quest to create a personal empire of successful businesses. I have spent the majority of my adult life trying. I have spent countless hours chasing these dreams and ambitions. Currently, I don’t feel any closer to attaining my dreams than I began. But again, I don’t need to do this.
I recently started blogging about becoming “Worthy of Zion”. The other thing I love is the gospel. I hope and pray that God will lead people to this site and something I say may help them on their journey to be worthy of Zion. I find a great deal of internal satisfaction and peace talking about the gospel, expressing my joy, testifying of my conversion, teaching gospel principles, and looking forward to the second coming of the Lord. I love it enough that I would do it day and night whether I made a dime at it or not. So, why don’t I?
If I don’t speak for him, who will? I would rather be found standing and speaking for him than to be found sitting silent.
As I thought about my love for the gospel and something I might consecrate, I realized I was willing to sacrifice my desire for riches and worldly acclaim for an opportunity to speak for Him. I was willing to reallocate the time that I would have spent on these other ambitions. I would take that time and use it to speak of Christ, teach of Christ, and to bring others unto Christ.
It is a meager offering. But honestly, if I took the 10 to 20 hours a week I spend chasing worldly dreams and in turn spend those hours immersing myself in the gospel. What good could I product for me, my family, and others?