His Palace

The Savior said this in the Sermon on the Mount: “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:29-30). Of course the Savior’s words here were not literal, and the JST adds this clarification: “And now this I speak, a parable concerning your sins; wherefore, cast them from you, that ye may not be hewn down and cast into the fire.” In other words, we should be as willing to cast away our sins even if it is hard as it would be to cut off our hand or foot. This reminds me of what President Nelson said recently: “Please do not fear or delay repenting. Satan delights in your misery. Cut it short. Cast his influence out of your life! Start today to experience the joy of putting off the natural man.” I believe the Lord’s instruction to the rich young ruler—“Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor”—was not a commandment for all of us to give away all our goods (Matt. 19:21). But it was an invitation to be willing to give away whatever is keeping us from Him, even our favorite sins that we feel we could never give up. We have to be willing to pray like the father of King Lamoni: “I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy…. I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day” (Alma 22:15, 18).

                This idea reminds me of a well-known quote from C.S. Lewis about the change that the Lord is trying to make in each of us. He said, “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” To go from the natural man to the being that Christ seeks to make us will take great effort and pain. For our sins and ungodly behavior, we will have to be willing to “pluck [them] out” and “cut [them] off”—even when painful—if we want to become as He is and dwell where He dwells. It reminds me of a young man I taught the gospel to on my mission. He was at first like a golden contact, and the Spirit was very strong in our lessons. But there was a principle he could not get past, sins he could not give up; he told us he could do everything—except keep that commandment. Ultimately the Spirit diminished in our discussions and we stopped teaching him. We must be willing to cut off even the hardest things, and then Savior can give us something far better—even all that the Father has. I love the song Faith by Doug Walker that teaches this principle so beautifully. Here are the lyrics:   

 

When Faith was smaller,

she had a treasure

Made just for little girls

Though made of plastic,

she loved to wear them

Her own strand of shiny pearls

Faith had a father, kind and gentle

How he loved his little girl

One night at bedtime he asked her

Will you give me your pearls

 

Oh no, not my pearls, Faith said

How about my teddy instead

And he said, your Daddy loves you –

it's okay

And with a kiss, he tucked in, his little

Faith

 

As Faith grew, now and then he'd ask her

To give him her precious pearls

And though she loved him

she couldn't give up

Her favorite thing in this world

Until one night, she said through her tears

Daddy, these are for you

As she let go of her little treasure

He was crying too

 

As he took her worn, plastic pearls

Around her neck he placed

A beautiful strand of genuine pearls

He had saved just for his sweet Faith

 

For all this world may have in store

He waits with so much more

Your Father loves you, it's okay

To let go of what you hold with Faith

 

That’s the kind of faith we must all have as we invite the Savior to come in to our lives and build His palace there.