You Have Many Things to Do

I was struck by these direct words from the Lord in the revelation Joseph received before deporting for Missouri the first time: “Behold, thus saith the Lord unto my people—you have many things to do and to repent of; for behold, your sins have come up unto me, and are not pardoned, because you seek to counsel in your own ways.” I wonder if the Savior would say the same thing to us today: “You have many things to do and repent of.” Joseph and the Saints perhaps felt they had done much up to this point: the Book of Mormon had been translated and published, the Church and the priesthood had been restored, missionaries had been sent to the Lamanites, and the Saints had gathered to Kirtland. But we can see looking back just how much more was to be done. Perhaps we too might feel that in some of our important responsibilities we are “done,” such as the missionary returning home or the Church leader being released. To these and all of us, I think the Lord would still say: “You have many things to do and repent of.” It reminds me of these words from President Ballard: “I would like to let you in on a little secret. Some of you have already learned it. If you haven’t, it’s time you knew. No matter what your family needs are or your responsibilities in the Church, there is no such thing as ‘done.’ There will always be more we can do. There is always another family matter that needs attention, another lesson to prepare, another interview to conduct, another meeting to attend.” I’m confident that as long as we are in mortality, the Lord has more that He’d like to do in our families, in our communities, and in His kingdom.

               That fact, though, need not overwhelm us or cause us to run faster than we have the strength. President Ballard continued in the same address: “The key, it seems to me, is to know and understand your own capabilities and limitations and then to pace yourself, allocating and prioritizing your time, your attention, and your resources to wisely help others, including your family, in their quest for eternal life.” What we need, as President Nelson has taught us, is daily repentance. In each of our important responsibilities we can seek a little progress often instead of some major improvement in a short amount of time. President Oaks put it this way: “Some people live the gospel with ‘short, frenzied outbursts of emotion,’ followed by long periods of lapse or by performance that is intermittent or sputtering. What we need in living the gospel is ‘the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.’” Nephi, paraphrasing Isaiah, taught us that God works this way: “I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts” (2 Nephi 28:30). That is how He teaches us, and that is perhaps how we should strive to improve and accomplish great things: line upon line, little by little. I remember long ago at work when I was first introduced to a complex computer program in a language that I didn’t know (I had very little experience with programming at that point). I remember the feeling of looking at the text and thinking, “I have no idea what this is all saying.” It was, as they say, like Greek to me. But I dove in and started learning it, and at some point after many days of spending time with it, I remember looking at it again and realizing that this time what I was staring at was perfectly understandable. I had learned it (quite literally) line upon line until I was completely able to comprehend it.  

               Ultimately it is up to us to learn, through His Spirit, what the “many things to do” are that He expects of us individually. As we do, we need not become overwhelmed but rather continue to work on them a little at a time. We should be neither complacent nor frenzied in our approach, but as we show forth the steady dedication of a lifetime, we can be confident that in our own figurative way we too will “see the kingdom of God coming in power and great glory unto [our] deliverance; for the fatness of the earth shall be [ours]” (Doctrine and Covenants 56:18).