Come, Follow Me

This week’s Come, Follow Me lesson discusses the story of the rich young man who was invited by the Savior to follow Him. It says, “The Savior’s invitation, ‘Come, follow me,’ applies to all—whether we are new on the path of discipleship or have walked it all our lives. This was His invitation to a rich young man who was striving to keep the commandments (see Matthew 19:16–22; Luke 18:18–23). What the young man learned—and what we all must learn—is that being a disciple means giving our whole souls to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.” It is interesting that the name of this program in fact comes from this story: the only place in the scriptures where we find the phrase “Come, follow me” is in Luke’s account of the story of this young man. Jesus said to the man after confirming that he kept the commandments, “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.” This underscores the need for us, I believe, to make sacrifices in order to follow Him through this program. If we want to come to know Him in studying His word, then we will need to give up some things of the world to make time for that study. This instruction from the Savior in our dispensation should be our guide: “Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:7). If we are so busy becoming rich and providing ourselves with the comforts of life that we don’t have time to gain knowledge and wisdom and inspiration through the study of the scriptures, then like the rich young man we have become too attached to the things of the world.

               I love the conclusion of the conference in 1831 by the early members of the church who determined that the revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith should be published. They voted that his revelations from the Lord were “worth to the Church the riches of the whole Earth” (see the heading to Doctrine and Covenants 70). Ultimately that must be our attitude if we are to, as President Nelson has invited us in the most recent general conference, overcome the world. I think it is not by chance that one of the very first stories in the Book of Mormon shows us in a dramatic story the kind of sacrifice that is needed in order to obtain the word of the Lord. After Lehi and his family traveled south through Judea for many days and then three days into the wilderness, the Lord commanded Lehi to send his sons back to get the brass plates which had the record of the Jews and the law of Moses. Nephi’s attempt at obtaining the plates, after Laman’s first request was denied, was surely meant to be symbolic for each of us. We read, “And it came to pass that we went down to the land of our inheritance, and we did gather together our gold, and our silver, and our precious things. And after we had gathered these things together, we went up again unto the house of Laban. And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things” (1 Nephi 3:22-24). In one sense of course they had already given up this wealth because they didn’t take it with them into the wilderness, but I don’t think that minimizes the power of this sacrifice that these brothers were willing to make to get the plates of brass. They offered all their wealth to obtain the scriptures from this wicked man. Would we be willing to do the same? Would the scriptures be worth our “exceedingly great” property if that’s what was required to obtain them? Or, like the rich young man, would we also “[go] away sorrowful” because we too have “great possessions” (Matthew 19:22)? For most of us we likely won’t have to give up a significant portion of our wealth to obtain the scriptures, but we will need to make a sacrifice of time and entertainment and other activities so that we can daily study His word and wholeheartedly accept His invitation: “Come, follow me.”