Fire of the Covenant

One of my favorite quotes from Brigham Young is this: “Now is the time for labor. Let the fire of the covenant which you made in the House of the Lord, burn in your hearts, like flame unquenchable”  (in Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sept. 28, 1846, 5).  He wrote this to the Saints during their difficult journey west after many of them had received their temple ordinances in Nauvoo.  Elder Ballard suggested that it was those covenants that “burned like unquenchable fire in their hearts” that gave the Saints such strength and power to endure crossing the plains (April 1999 General Conference, Like a Flame Unquenchable).  That kind of burning desire to keep our commitments to God and to escape the wickedness around us is, I think, just as important today for us as it was for the Pioneers.  The scriptures give several examples of those who seemed to have had such a fire within them.

                The most obvious scriptural character whose testimony burned within him was Jeremiah.  When he wanted to quit preaching to the abominably wicked city of Jerusalem, he said, “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (Jeremiah 20:9).  Even though he was made a “derision, daily” he had in his heart the covenants of the Lord and he couldn’t stop preaching the word as God had commanded him.  This reminds me of another Old Testament character whom the Lord wouldn’t let quit in his mission to a very wicked people.  After Elijah’s miraculous encounter with the priests of Baal, he fled into the wilderness and “requested for himself that he might die.”  When the Lord questioned what he was doing there, he said this: “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword” (1 Kings 19:4, 10).  To me it seems that he had such a love for the Lord—he was “jealous for the Lord”—that his heart was breaking at the wickedness of the people.  His great sorrow was over the fact that they had forsaken the covenant, but his own covenant clearly burned within him.  The Lord did not let him die but set him back to Israel to finish his mission. 

                The three Nephites who requested to remain on the earth to preach the gospel must have also had the fire of the covenant burning in them.  I wonder how I would have reacted if my mission president had come to me and said, “Elder, when your current mission is over you can either go home or stay and continue your full time labors as a missionary for the next 2000 years.”  The latter choice is basically what those three Nephites chose, except it was their idea and not a choice given to them.  They had just a burning desire to preach the gospel that they wanted to live as long as possible to preach the gospel and “bring the souls of men unto [Christ], while the world shall stand” (3 Nephi 28:9).  Their hearts were so pure and so full of desire that they could not stand the idea of having to stop their labors when they were old.  That was surely the fire of the covenant within them. 

                I’m sure there are many other scriptural stories that we could cite showing others’ examples deep desires to serve the Lord.  I’m not sure exactly how we develop that kind of feeling within us, but based on Brother Brigham’s comment I think it’s fair to say that the temple is the place to cultivate it.