Give Heed to the Word

In his recent general conference talk, Elder Bednar quoted parts of the hymn Let Us All Press On which states in the chorus, “We will heed not what the wicked may say, But the Lord alone we will obey.” He spoke about how we can “heed not” the wicked voices of today and suggested, “Our covenant connection with God and Jesus Christ is the channel through which we can receive the capacity and strength to ‘heed not.’ And this bond is strengthened as we continually hold fast to the rod of iron.” As Nephi taught, the rod of iron is “the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction” (1 Nephi 15:24). Here the word has two meanings: it is both the word of the Savior found in holy writ, and it is the Word who is Jesus Christ Himself. For us to be able to withstand the fiery darts of the adversary today and to not heed the loud voices of the world seeking to pull us off the covenant path, we must cling to both the words of the scriptures and to the Savior Himself. It is not enough to not listen to the mocking voices coming from the great and spacious building, but we must attune our ears to hear the voice of Jesus Christ. Elder Bednar summarized, “Holding fast to the word of God entails (1) remembering, honoring, and strengthening the personal connection we have with the Savior and His Father through the covenants and ordinances of the restored gospel and (2) prayerfully, earnestly, and consistently using the holy scriptures and the teachings of living prophets and apostles as sure sources of revealed truth.” If we want to survive spiritually we must cling to the words of the scriptures and to our personal connection with the Savior.

                As my children get older I realize that they care more and more what the world thinks of them and how they are perceived by their peers. My role is to help them see that what God thinks of them is far more important than what others around them think. We recently went to pick up groceries that we had ordered online, and I had a scripture podcast playing in the car. I left it on as I went back to help the lady bringing us our groceries and put them into the back of the van. When I got back into the front seat I found my daughter was mortified that I would leave that on where the lady might hear it, and she had gotten into an argument with her brother about turning it off so it wouldn’t be heard. That of course is not the attitude that the Savior wants us to have about His words: we should not be embarrassed by them or fear what the world might think because we hearken unto them. Ultimately the question we have to answer is this: are we concerned more by how the world sees us or how the Savior see us? Which would we rather please? If we are to heed not what the wicked my say and hold fast to the iron rod, we must let go of any concern over how the world perceives us and focus intensely on the Savior Himself and doing what He would have us do. What He said of the Father should be our aim in our relationship towards Him: “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29). We must let go of all concern for what is coming out of the great and spacious building and what the world might be saying about us, and focus only on doing those things that please Him. As we “heed not” what the wicked say and “give heed to the word of Christ” we will be led in a “straight course to eternal bliss” and “to the promised land” (Alma 37:44). I hope that we are never ashamed to read or listen to or study the word of God, and may we never be ashamed of our covenants that we have made with the Word of God who is “our helper” and will “ever be near” to “His Saints [whom] he will cheer.”