Christ at the Center of Our Lives

Elder Kevin W. Pearson spoke recently about the commitment we make at the sacrament table to be willing to keep our covenants with the Savior. In the prayer on the bread the priest says that those who partake of it witness unto God that they are “willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them.” As we partake of the bread we are testifying that we are willing to take upon us His name, always remember Him, and keep His commandments. This doesn’t mean that we will do those things perfectly, but it should mean a deep commitment to trying. Interestingly, in the prayer on the water we only commit again to one of those three things, suggesting that it is perhaps the most important of the three: “That they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77-79). In this prayer the word willing is not used, suggesting perhaps that our promise to always remember Him must be kept more completely than our naturally imperfect efforts to take His name upon us and keep His commandments. At any rate, what is clear is that our participation in the sacrament is a promise that we will strive to remember Him. Elder Pearson commented, “Partaking of the sacrament is not a passive religious ritual implying our mere consent. It is a powerful reminder of the reality of the Savior’s infinite Atonement and the need to always remember Him and keep His commandments. Willingness to focus on the Savior is so crucial it is the central message of the two most quoted scriptures in the Church.”  

                Elder Pearson also spoke about the parable of the ten virgins. He quoted the Lord’s description of the five wise virgins: “For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:57). With the Holy Ghost guiding us towards Him, he suggested also that we are among those wise virgins when “we place Christ at the center of our lives.” Of the five foolish virgins he questioned, “Why were they unwilling to carry a vessel of spiritual oil? Did they simply procrastinate? They were perhaps too casual because it was inconvenient or seemed unnecessary. Whatever the reason, they were deceived about the crucial role of Christ. This is Satan’s fundamental deception.” Perhaps that is indeed the key difference between the foolish and the wise: the spiritually wise today place Christ at the center of their lives, and the foolish set Him aside and are deceived as to His crucial role. The wise, with the Holy Ghost as their guide, will recognize their need to remember Him always, thus readying themselves with the oil of faith and love and devotion to the Savior. The foolish, like many today, think rarely on Him and “set him at naught, and hearken not to the voice of his counsels.” They “turn their hearts aside” and ultimately have “despised the Holy One of Israel” (1 Nephi 19:7, 14). But if we want to survive spiritually in this world that at large rejects Him and His teachings, we must focus on the Savior in our lives, each day remembering Him in prayer, in the study of His word, and in our interactions with all those around us. Elder Pearson summarized it well this way: “The covenant path is not a simple checklist; it is a process of spiritual growth and deepening commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. The central purpose of every commandment, principle, covenant, and ordinance is to build faith and trust in Christ. Our determination to center our lives on Christ, therefore, must be consistent—not conditional, situational, or superficial.” We must be willing, as we promise in partaking of the Sacrament, to remember Him in all that we do, making His will for us the most important thing in our lives.