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| Source We each have many choices to make as to how we observe the Sabbath day. There will always be some “good” activity that can and should be sacrificed for the better choice of Church meeting attendance.... Our everyday decisions will impact our lives in significant ways. A seemingly small decision such as whether or not to attend a sacrament meeting can have far-reaching, even eternal, consequences. May we choose to be diligent and gain the great blessings and protections that come from gathering together and keeping covenants. |
My father could remember the very day, even the very hour,
that his family—father, mother, and four children—left the Church, many never
to return again in this life. He was 13 years old, a deacon, and in those days
families attended Sunday School in the morning and then sacrament meeting in
the afternoon. On a beautiful spring day, after returning home from Sunday
morning worship services and having a midday family meal together, his mother
turned to his father and asked simply, “Well, dear, do you think we should go
to sacrament meeting this afternoon, or should we take the family for a ride in
the country?”
The idea that there was an option to sacrament meeting had
never occurred to my father, but he and his three teenage siblings all sat up
and paid careful attention. That Sunday afternoon ride in the country was
probably an enjoyable family activity, but that small decision became the start
of a new direction which ultimately led his family away from the Church with
its safety, security, and blessings and onto a different path.
As a lesson to those of our day who might be tempted to
choose a different path, the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi shared a vision with
his family where he “saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were
pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by
which [he] stood.
“And … they did come forth, and commence in the path which
led to the tree.
“And … there arose a mist of darkness; … insomuch that they
who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and
were lost.”1
Lehi then saw a second group that was “pressing forward, and
they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did
press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even
until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.” Unfortunately,
“after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes
about as if they were ashamed” because of those in “a great and spacious
building” that “were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers
towards those who had come … and were partaking of the fruit.” These people
then “fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.”2 They were unable, or
perhaps unwilling, to endure to the end.
There was, however, a third group that was not only
successful in reaching the tree of life, but they afterward did not fall away.
Of these, the scriptures say that they pressed “forward, continually holding
fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the
fruit of the tree.”3 The rod of iron represented for this group of people the
only safety and security that they could find, and they held fast continually;
they refused to let go, even for something as simple as a Sunday afternoon ride
in the country.
About this group of people, Elder David A. Bednar has
taught: “The key phrase in this verse is ‘continually holding fast’ to the rod
of iron. … Perhaps this third group of people consistently read and studied and
searched the words of Christ. … This is the group you and I should strive to
join.”4
Those of us who are members of God’s Church today have made
covenants to follow Jesus Christ and to obey God’s commandments. At baptism we
covenanted to stand as a witness of the Savior,5 to succor the weak and the
needy,6 to keep the commandments of God, and to repent as needed, for as the
Apostle Paul taught, “All have sinned, and [fall] short of the glory of God.”7
Each week we have the opportunity to attend a sacrament
meeting, where we can renew these covenants by partaking of the bread and water
of the sacrament ordinance. This simple act allows us to once again pledge
ourselves to follow Jesus Christ and to repent when we do fall short. God’s
promise to us in return is His Spirit as a guide and protection.
From Preach My Gospel, our missionaries teach that
revelation and testimony come when we attend our Sunday Church meetings: “As we
attend Church services and worship together, we strengthen each other. We are
renewed by our association with friends and family. Our faith is strengthened
as we study the scriptures and learn more about the restored gospel.”8
One might ask why we have three separate meetings on Sunday
and why the need for each. Let’s briefly look at these three meetings:
• Sacrament meeting provides the opportunity to participate
in the ordinance of the sacrament. We renew our covenants, receive an increased
measure of the Spirit, and have the additional blessing of being instructed and
edified by the Holy Ghost.
• Sunday School allows us to “teach one another the doctrine
of the kingdom,”9 that all might be “edified and rejoice together.”10 Great
power and personal peace come as we understand the doctrines of the restored
gospel.
• Priesthood meetings are a time for men and young men to
“learn [their] duty”11 and to “be instructed more perfectly,”12 and Relief
Society meetings provide the women of the Church an opportunity to “increase
their faith … , strengthen [their] families and homes, and help those in
need.”13
Likewise, our young women and children have their own
meetings and classes where they are taught the gospel as they prepare for
important responsibilities that will come to them. In each of these unique but
connected meetings, we learn the doctrine, feel the Spirit, and serve one
another. While there may be exceptions due to distance, travel cost, or health,
we should strive to attend all of our Sunday meetings. I promise that blessings
of great joy and peace will come from worship during our three-hour Sunday
meeting schedule.
Our family has committed to attend all of our Sunday
meetings. We have found that this strengthens our faith and deepens our
understanding of the gospel. We have learned that we feel good about our
decision to attend our Church meetings, especially as we return to our home and
continue to observe the Sabbath. We even attend all of our Sunday meetings when
we are on vacation or traveling. One of our daughters recently wrote to say
that she had attended church in a city where she was traveling and then added,
“Yes, Dad, I did attend all three of the Sunday meetings.” We know that she was
blessed for this righteous decision.
We each have many choices to make as to how we observe the
Sabbath day. There will always be some “good” activity that can and should be
sacrificed for the better choice of Church meeting attendance. This is in fact
one of the ways that the adversary “cheateth [our] souls, and leadeth [us
carefully] away.”14 He uses “good” activities as substitutes for “better” or
even “best” activities.15
Continually holding fast to the rod means that whenever
possible we attend our Sunday meetings: sacrament meeting, Sunday School, and
priesthood or Relief Society meetings. Our children and youth attend their
respective meetings in Primary, Young Men, and Young Women. We should never
pick or choose which meetings we attend. We simply hold fast to the word of God
by worshipping and attending our Sabbath meetings.
Continually holding fast to the rod means that we strive to
keep all of God’s commandments, to have daily personal and family prayer, and
to study the scriptures daily.
Continually holding fast is part of the doctrine of Christ
as taught in the Book of Mormon. We exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent of
our sins, change our hearts, and then follow Him down into the waters of
baptism and receive the confirming gift of the Holy Ghost, which serves as a
guide and comforter. And then, as Nephi taught, we “press forward, feasting
upon the word of Christ” until the very end of our lives.16
My brothers and sisters, we are a covenant people. We
willingly make and keep covenants, and the promised blessing is that we will
receive “all that [the] Father hath.”17 As we continually hold fast to the rod
by keeping our covenants, we will be strengthened to resist the temptations and
perils of the world. We will be able to navigate this mortal life with all of
its challenges until we actually reach the tree with the fruit “most precious
and most desirable above all other.”18
My father was fortunate to marry a good woman who encouraged
him to come back to the church of his youth and begin again to progress along
the path. Their faithful lives have blessed all of their children, the next
generation of grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren.
Just as the simple decision to attend or not attend one of
their Sabbath day worship meetings made a significant difference in the lives
of my grandparents’ family, our everyday decisions will impact our lives in
significant ways. A seemingly small decision such as whether or not to attend a
sacrament meeting can have far-reaching, even eternal, consequences.
May we choose to be diligent and gain the great blessings
and protections that come from gathering together and keeping covenants. May we
continually hold fast to the iron rod that leads to the presence of our
Heavenly Father is my prayer in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
1. 1 Nephi 8:21–23.
2. 1 Nephi 8:24–28.
3. 1 Nephi 8:30; emphasis added.
4. David A. Bednar, “A Reservoir of Living Water” (Church
Educational System fireside address, Feb. 4, 2007), 8–9; speeches.byu.edu.
5. See Mosiah 18:9.
6. See Doctrine and Covenants 81:5.
7. Romans 3:23.
8. Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service (2004),
74.
9. Doctrine and Covenants 88:77.
10. Doctrine and Covenants 50:22.
11. Doctrine and Covenants 107:99.
12. Doctrine and Covenants 88:78.
13. Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010), 9.1.1.
14. 2 Nephi 28:21.
15. See Dallin H. Oaks, “Good, Better, Best,” Ensign or
Liahona, Nov. 2007, 104–8.
16. 2 Nephi 31:20.
17. Doctrine and Covenants 84:38.
18. 1 Nephi 15:36.
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