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Sunday, October 24, 2010

Message of inspiration from President Thomas S. Monson
Published: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010
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Paul taught the Philippians that individuals are called upon to "work out [their] own salvation" (Philipians 2:12).

Stuart Johnson, Deseret News
By obedience to God's commandments, we can qualify for that "house" spoken of by Jesus when He declared: "In my Father's house are many mansions. … I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2–3).

Life moves on. Youth follows childhood, and maturity comes ever so imperceptibly. From experience we learn the need for heavenly assistance as we make our way along the pathway of mortality. We treasure the inspired thought: "God is a Father; man is a brother. Life is a mission and not a career" (President Stephen L Richards).

God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, have marked the way to perfection. They beckon us to choose to follow eternal verities and to become perfect as they are perfect. (See Matthew 5:48; 3 Nephi 12:48.) The Apostle Paul likened life to a race with a clearly defined goal. To the Saints at Corinth he urged: "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain" (1 Corinthians 9:24).

In our zeal, let us not overlook this sage counsel: "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Actually, the prize belongs to him who endures to the end.

When I reflect on the race of life, I remember another type of race, even from childhood days. When I was about ten, my boyfriends and I would take pocketknives in hand and, from the soft wood of a willow tree, fashion small toy boats. With a triangular-shaped cotton sail in place, each boy would launch his crude craft in the race down the relatively turbulent waters of the Provo River. We would run along the river's bank and watch the tiny vessels sometimes bobbing violently in the swift current and at other times sailing serenely as the water deepened.
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Message of inspiration from President Thomas S. Monson
Published: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010
Print | Email | Share
Paul taught the Philippians that individuals are called upon to "work out [their] own salvation" (Philipians 2:12).

Stuart Johnson, Deseret News
By obedience to God's commandments, we can qualify for that "house" spoken of by Jesus when He declared: "In my Father's house are many mansions. … I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2–3).

Life moves on. Youth follows childhood, and maturity comes ever so imperceptibly. From experience we learn the need for heavenly assistance as we make our way along the pathway of mortality. We treasure the inspired thought: "God is a Father; man is a brother. Life is a mission and not a career" (President Stephen L Richards).

God, our Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, have marked the way to perfection. They beckon us to choose to follow eternal verities and to become perfect as they are perfect. (See Matthew 5:48; 3 Nephi 12:48.) The Apostle Paul likened life to a race with a clearly defined goal. To the Saints at Corinth he urged: "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain" (1 Corinthians 9:24).

In our zeal, let us not overlook this sage counsel: "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Actually, the prize belongs to him who endures to the end.

When I reflect on the race of life, I remember another type of race, even from childhood days. When I was about ten, my boyfriends and I would take pocketknives in hand and, from the soft wood of a willow tree, fashion small toy boats. With a triangular-shaped cotton sail in place, each boy would launch his crude craft in the race down the relatively turbulent waters of the Provo River. We would run along the river's bank and watch the tiny vessels sometimes bobbing violently in the swift current and at other times sailing serenely as the water deepened.

During one such race we noted that one boat led all the rest toward the appointed finish line. Suddenly the current carried it too close to a large whirlpool, and the boat heaved to its side and capsized. Around and around it was carried, unable to make its way back into the main current. At last it came to an uneasy rest at the end of the pool, amid the flotsam and jetsam that surrounded it.

The toy boats of childhood had no keel for stability, no rudder to provide direction, and no source of power. Inevitably their destination was downstream—the path of least resistance.

Unlike toy boats, we have been provided divine attributes to guide our journey. We enter mortality not to float with the moving currents of life, but with the power to think, to reason, and to achieve.

We left our heavenly home and came to earth in the purity and innocence of childhood. Our Heavenly Father did not launch us on our eternal voyage without providing the means whereby we could receive from Him guidance to ensure our safe return.

Yes, I speak of prayer. I speak, too, of the whisperings from that still, small voice within each of us; and I do not overlook the holy scriptures, written by mariners who successfully sailed the seas we too must cross.

— President Thomas S. Monson, "Invitation to Exaltation," Ensign, June 1993, p. 2



During one such race we noted that one boat led all the rest toward the appointed finish line. Suddenly the current carried it too close to a large whirlpool, and the boat heaved to its side and capsized. Around and around it was carried, unable to make its way back into the main current. At last it came to an uneasy rest at the end of the pool, amid the flotsam and jetsam that surrounded it.

The toy boats of childhood had no keel for stability, no rudder to provide direction, and no source of power. Inevitably their destination was downstream—the path of least resistance.

Unlike toy boats, we have been provided divine attributes to guide our journey. We enter mortality not to float with the moving currents of life, but with the power to think, to reason, and to achieve.

We left our heavenly home and came to earth in the purity and innocence of childhood. Our Heavenly Father did not launch us on our eternal voyage without providing the means whereby we could receive from Him guidance to ensure our safe return.

Yes, I speak of prayer. I speak, too, of the whisperings from that still, small voice within each of us; and I do not overlook the holy scriptures, written by mariners who successfully sailed the seas we too must cross.

— President Thomas S. Monson, "Invitation to Exaltation," Ensign, June 1993, p. 2

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