Committed To Covenants

Last night I attended a fireside by Bishop Caussé, the Presiding Bishop of the Church.  He talked about his call last fall to this position and he mentioned when President Monson asked him if he was willing to fill this position he had already made that decision long before.  He explained further what he meant: many decades previously he had made commitments in the temple about serving the Lord, and those commitments were forever.  So there was no choice to make when President Monson extended the invitation—Bishop Caussé’s commitment had been fixed long before and needed no reconsideration.  I’ve been thinking about what he shared and think that all of us could use more of that dedication to our covenants.  When in sacred places and events we commit to the Lord, it should be, as Bishop Caussé said, “pour toujours.”

                I think that we see numerous examples in the scriptures of those who expressed similar commitment to the Lord and showed for the rest of their lives that they really meant it.  First and foremost is the Savior: in the Grand Council in heaven He said, “Here am I, send me” to the Father, and His obedience to the Father in every matter was never questioned after that.  Everything about His life on earth shows that He was absolutely set on fulfilling His commitment to the Father.  Nephi of course was another excellent example.  He told his father early on in the Book of Mormon, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded,” and everything that we read about his life shows complete dedication to those words (1 Nephi 3:7).  When Samuel was a boy in Eli’s household the Lord spoke to him and he responded, “Speak; for thy servant heareth” (1 Samuel 3:10).  His life was then spent hearing and heeding the voice of the Lord as the prophet to Israel.  One of his most famous statements made to Saul shows that conviction: “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22).  When Saul was on the road to Damascus and was visited by the Lord He responded, “What wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6)  That question to me encapsulates what he did for the rest of his life.  He gave up everything from his former life in order to do what the Lord would have him do: labor as a missionary.  When Alma came out of his own experience with a heavenly messenger calling him to repentance, he declared, “A am born of God” (Mosiah 27:28).  The way that he selflessly served the rest of his life showed that he was indeed born of God and changed forever.  Lastly, Joseph Smith was likewise true to his mission and the vision he received.  As he would say later, “I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true” (JSH 1:25).  From 1820 to 1844 everything he did was a witness that he would stay true to that witness. 

                I’ve been saddened by those I know who have left their covenants and turned their back on the Church.  Perhaps the most important lesson from such observations is simply that we must cling to our covenants “pour toujours” no matter what pressures come—that is the only way to make it through this life safely.