In Whose Heart I Have Written My Law

Elder Jörg Klebingat spoke about how we can be valiant disciples in the last days in the most recent general conference. Quoting Hugh Nibley he said this: “Though some may think that mortality is a contest between God and the adversary, a word from the Savior ‘and Satan is silenced and banished. … It is [our] strength that is being tested—not God’s.’” The outcome of this final dispensation is already sure—"the Lamb shall overcome” and “the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone”—but what we will choose personally is not (Revelation 17:4, 20:10).  The purpose of this life is not to see if God will prevail over Satan but whether we “will do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command [us]” (Abraham 3:25). Elder Klebingat summarized what matters most for us: “In the end we will therefore reap what our lifelong choices have sown. So what does the sum total of our thoughts, desires, words, and works say about our love for the Savior, His chosen servants, and His restored Church? Do our baptismal, priesthood, and temple covenants mean more to us than the praise of the world or the number of ‘likes’ on social media? Is our love for the Lord and His commandments stronger than our love for anything or anyone else in this life?” Unlike Cain, we must choose to love God more than Satan and be more concerned with what the Lord thinks of us than how anyone else perceives us (see Moses 5:18).

               What impressed me about Elder Klebingat’s talk was his extensive use of the scriptures and words of the prophets to teach us. With almost 50 footnotes, nearly all of them referencing a scripture or quote from church leader, I believe one of his implicit messages is that the word of God will help us be valiant disciples in the latter days. In of the scriptures that he quoted from Isaiah is this one: “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings” (2 Nephi 8:7). We need His law written in our hearts so that our highest concern is not the reproach of men or the reviling of others—it is what the Giver of the Law thinks of us. I love the psalm that he also quoted: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” (Psalm 119:165). We can find peace not by becoming like the world but by learning to love His law written in the scriptures. As another verse Elder Klebingat quoted suggests, when we receive His word through ancient and modern prophets, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against [us]; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before [us], and cause the heavens to shake for [our] good, and his name’s glory” (Doctrine and Covenants 21:6). I love his encouragement: “So what about us? Should we be intimidated or afraid? Should we live our religion at periscope depth? Surely not!... With the Savior at the helm and living prophets to lead and guide us, ‘who can be against us?’ Let us be confident, not apologetic, valiant, not timid, faithful, not fearful as we hold up the Lord’s light in these last days.” As we learn to love His word and write it in our hearts, we will have His strength to help us pass the tests of mortality and prepare live with Him again.