Taking Covenants For Granted

          Joseph Smith once said that one of the saddest things he had ever witnessed was "the sorrow of members of the Church who came forth to a resurrection below that which they had taken for granted they would receive."  Elder Marion G. Romney added, "I have heard people contend that they have a claim upon [the blessings] because they have been through the temple, even though they are not careful to keep the covenants they there made.  I do not think this will be the case."  

           The phrase "taken for granted" should be interesting to you and to me.  Why?  Because it implies a grievance far more minor than the abhorrent sins we normally think of as eternal life preventers.

          There are many ways to break a covenant.  Some of them are very serious and require very painful repentance to recover from.  Others are not so obvious.  For example, we often forget to always remember the Savior, which we covenant to do every week.  There are elements of the temple covenants that perhaps we do not take seriously enough.  Of course, the Lord does not expect us to be absolutely perfect at these things.  The issue emerges when we decide to disregard an aspect of our covenants because we are distracted by worldly things.  The question then becomes, "What is the focus of my life?  My covenants, or something else?"

          Experiencing an intense struggle to keep our covenants is a good sign.  Jesus Christ declared:  " Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."  Seeking exaltation is difficult by its very nature.  If we feel that way, it is likely because our lives our founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ, and He is leading us along a path that will eventually allow us to keep our covenants perfectly.  The danger lies in complacency.  Do any of you honestly believe that God will judge the man who makes the covenants and then coasts to the end of his life the same as the one who struggles to be perfected with his whole might, mind and strength?

          Said Elder Holland, "The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know."  Or, to restate the principle in other words, the number of covenants we have made and the strength of our capacity we have to keep them is not the issue, it is the integrity we demonstrate toward the covenants we do have and the desire to receive and keep all the covenants of salvation and exaltation in the future.

          This post is not a call to run ourselves into the ground in the name of covenant-keeping.  It is a call to refocus our lives on what is most important and blow away the chaff.  It is a call to consider every part of our covenants worth sacrificing for.  It is a call to not "take for granted" eternal blessings until they are presented to us by at the judgment bar by the Great Jehovah.  On the other hand, it is also a call to hope in the sureness and safety of the way Jesus Christ provides.  His is not a Gospel of fear.

          Rather, it is a Gospel of our love for Him.