The principle of the knock

The principle of the knock

This dispensation was ushered in by a small boy who wanted to know which church to join and had the temerity to believe that he would get an answer to a prayer.

You are well acquainted with the scripture in James, so I will not repeat it here.

There is also scripture that goes something like this, seek and you shall find, ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you[1].  Many years ago I wrote a little piece when I was stake president. It was before I had a computer, so I have no copy of that document. 

I will try and remember the gist of that.

One of the reasons that more people do not gain knowledge or a testimony is because they do not ask with real intent, if they ask at all.

The Lord works by principle. If we go back to Adam and all the prophets, they all had to ask before they received the knowledge they were seeking.

I think that when we are given things, whether it be material goods or knowledge, without any effort or sacrifice on our part, there is no appreciation of the gift that is given.

President Packer once gave a talk about advice. The sum and substance of the talk was if you ask for advice from a prophet (or any one else for that matter) and then decide not to follow it, you have wasted both his/their time and yours.

People cannot resolve problems by sweeping them under the rug and running away.

The scripture instructs us to meet together in private and resolve the issue that we are not esteemed to be enemies.

On May 2 2014 I wrote on my Letters from Grandpa Blog the parable of the father and the child. This details what happens often in our society.  We expect to have all our problems solved with little or no effort on our part.

I have made it my policy not to interfere with anyone’s agency. (I have written about this before.) If they seek counsel I will give considered insight, but will not do so unless they put forth the effort to ask and to act.

This is what I call the principal of the knock.

We often have a tendency to blame ourselves for our children's failures and shortcomings and do not realize that in spite of our imperfections and lack of good judgment, which we all have at some point, the individual is an agent unto themselves even at a very early age. They are the captains of their fate and the masters of their souls and through the atonement of Christ will overcome all things by obedience.

So knock, ask, and seek.  That is the principle of the knock.

Love,

Grandpa

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[1] Matthew 7:8  Say unto them, Ask of God; ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Sin like illness is best treated early in its course.

Sin like illness is best treated early in its course.
I have been learning about and associated with illness for fifty-six years. I have learned that in most cases early intervention is the key to a cure, or if not, at least an arrest in the progression of the disease.

I am usually able to make a diagnosis by listening to the symptoms and their progression through time.  In many cases I can make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment by listening to the patient describe the symptoms and their progression and ask pertinent questions. In some cases intervention of a surgical nature or hospital treatment needs to be instituted in order for the patient to return to some measure of health.

The earlier the treatment is instituted, the better the outcome. In some cases the patient waits too long and debility or death is the result.

Sin is much like disease. It, in essence, is spiritual illness. Sin is a transgression of the laws of God. Like physical illness, spiritual illness has symptoms and may result in spiritual death.

There are many times when we see someone who exhibits the symptoms of spiritual disease. Although there are many symptoms, I will enumerate a few that I have observed recently. One of the most prominent is outrage. It seems like when things do not meet our expectations; people demonstrate, riot, say nasty things on social media and generally act out their frustrations.

I was struck by a headline in the paper today with a national organization calling for a federal investigation of a local police action resulting in the death of a young man. The mother understandingly was upset, but would not let it alone.  She acted out to the point where she was charged with a transgression of a statute outlining how one should properly behave in polite society. It is possible that because of her actions she could be fined or serve time in jail to recompense her actions.

How utterly stupid to allow frustration or outrage to govern our actions. Although one can understand people’s reactions, they can never be justified. Our example, Christ, suffered far greater indignities, but paid them no heed.

By reacting to such injustices we separate ourselves from God because of our spiritual illness. There are those that would argue that He would understand how things were and look the other way. It was Christ who said, love your enemies and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us. Christ never condones sin.

Why? Because it renders us unfit to associate with our Father who is perfect and cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

The gospel of Jesus Christ and the Father is one of healing to make us, his children, whole and well again, freed from sickness and iniquity.

Thus outrage and acting out is a symptom of a deeper problem or in other words spiritual illness. Elder Boyd K. Packer once gave a talk on letting things go. If we are whole spiritually we may have the feeling that things did not go like we would have desired. We may be anguished, but we would never act out or seek retribution. We would leave it in the Lord's hand and say, as He instructed, "Let The Lord judge between me and thee and reward thee according to thy works."

How do people get spiritual disease or sin?  They fail to do rather simple things: keep the commandments, pray earnestly, and immerse themselves in the scriptures so they can be acquainted with his voice.
We all come short of the mark, but it is the true saint who recognizes his errors and accepts correction and changes his behavior. This spiritual illness must be addressed early and often. If repentance is procrastinated then rationalization appears and we are bound in fetters, which may require major and painful extraction.

Another symptom of spiritual disease is dishonesty.  This includes lying and stealing. If a person has a pure testimony of The Lord Jesus Christ they will not rationalize their integrity. They know who they are and what God expects of them.  They will quickly correct any deviation from that spiritual plane that will bring them closer to God.  Lying and dishonesty are like a rapidly progressive disease.  If not treated it becomes a way of life and eventually the individual has their conscience dulled and they become past feeling and spiritually die even though they are physically alive.  The treatment must be administered early and in most cases is very painful.

Thus lying is not the disease, but a symptom of our lack of faith and conformity to God's will and commandments.  We have nothing to give to God but our obedience to His commandments. If Christ submitted His will to The Father, how much more are we in need of submission to the Father?

The cure for illness is varied and depends on the disease. There is no universal cure. Sometimes an antibiotic will take care of the problem or it may require surgery to make the person whole again or at the least be restored to some measure of health. In some cases chemotherapy or radiation may halt it for a while or provide a remission, but a person is never really restored to a pristine state.

In contrast, the cure for sin, if truly instituted is all-encompassing and total. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white.."

There is no universal antidote for poison, but there is a universal antidote for sin.  It is simple faith in Christ and true repentance. There is no substitute magic potion that will cleanse sin.  There is no substitute for Christ and his commandments.  To paraphrase an oft-quoted scripture in the Book of Mormon, I rejoice in Christ, I talk of Christ, I prophesy and testify of Christ and I write of Christ and hope that my posterity will look to Christ for their eternal happiness and salvation and remission of their sins. That they may know that it is only through the grace of the Holy Messiah that they will come back into the presence of their Eternal Heavenly Father to dwell.

Christ has the healing in his wings to heal all sin, but it can only come through the healing balm of true, sincere repentance. Therefore; my grandchildren, please repent and keep the commandments fully and completely and be whole.

Love,

Grandpa