We are admonished to
seek Intelligent Obedience.
Obedience has no real
everlasting value unless it is willingly, deliberately, freely,
openly, whole-heartedly, intelligently, and eagerly given. Blind
obedience simply will not cut it.
I obey correct
principles because at my very heart and core I desire to do so. I
obey correct teachings because at the very center of my soul, I have
made those teachings an integral part of who I am and what I stand
for. I obey the commandments of God because in the past whenever I
have rejected them, I have noticed that my disobedience was taking me
down roads to places where I did not want to go. For some of us, the
best way to repent is to turn around and go the other direction.
When I choose to obey one of the Brethren or one of my Church
Leaders, I have noticed that I do so because I love the man and I
want to be more like him.
If I want a blessing
such as a College Degree, such a blessing comes by obedience and
compliance to the rules, regulations, requirements, and demands of
those who hold in their hands the keys, rights, authority, and
ability to give me such a gift. I have to submit myself to the duly
accredited authorities before I can receive a College Degree. I have
to go in by the right door through proper admission, pay my tuition
(or tithes), obey the student rules, submit to my teachers, pass
repeated exams, do the work, learn the material and make it a part of
me, fulfill the requirements, and follow the process through to its
logical conclusion before they will give me the blessings and the
rights of a College Degree. There is no other way. If there were,
the degree (of exaltation) I received would have no value whatsoever
when it came to perform in the real world. These kinds of blessings
come by whole-hearted and intelligent obedience to the principles and
rules upon which they are predicated.
The same rules and
principles apply when it comes to our obedience to God's duly
authorized servants. If we want the blessings and rights that they
have to offer, it will come by obedience and compliance to the
teachings, principles, and ordinances that they have to offer.
D&C 130:20-21:
20 There is a law,
irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world,
upon which all blessings are predicated --
21 And when we obtain
any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it
is predicated.
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