Do you want to know a little secret? Even though I look so sweet and so innocent, I was the most disobedient child. EVER.
I was so disobedient that when I would be sent to my room for being disobedient, I would climb out my window and play with the neighbor kids for the duration of my time-out period, I then would crawl back through my window and innocently ask my mom if I could come out of my room. I would never do my chores. I HATED doing chores. My mom would always bribe us with things if we were good little children and helped take care of the house. Bless my mom's heart. There is one day that I will never ever forget...
One glorious summer day when I was probably 9 or 10, my mom promised us a trip to Chuck E Cheese if we would do our chores. She gave my older sister a list of chores and me a list of chores. I don't remember exactly but, I assume I was asked to dust the TV stand, vacuum the family room and maybe clean the mirrors and sink in the bathroom. Easy stuff right? Didn't matter, I didn't do them. In my mind, I thought that my mom loved me and she would let me go to Chuck E. Cheese whether I had done my chores or not. I thought wrong! When it came time to leave, my sweet mother asked me if I had finished my chores and I mumbled no but was still heading to the door. She stopped me and disappointingly said, "I'm sorry but you're going to have to stay home today because you didn't do your chores." I immediately put on the water works hoping it would do the trick but she still said no. I chased her outside as all of my other siblings were climbing into our van. My mom got in the car, rolled the window down and told me to get in the house. I wasn't giving up just yet so I proceeded to get on top of the hood and I sat cross legged right in front of where my mom was sitting and threw a fit. My mom along with my siblings just laughed which made me more and more furious! My mom told me one more time to get in the house and that is when I finally realized that I wasn't going to win this one and I would have to go inside and suffer the excruciating consequence. That was a huge lesson about obedience for me.
I share this humiliating story to stress the importance of being obedient to the commandments that our Heavenly Father has so lovingly given us. I used to think that rules and commandments were given to us to control us but that could not be farther than the truth. In reality, God gives us guidelines and commandments because He loves us so much. He gives us these things to protect us and most importantly, to help us return to Him. Just like I thought I wouldn't get in trouble because my mom loved me, some people think the same of God. Yes, He loves us more than we will ever understand. At the same time He wants us to be the best we can be and His commandments help us be our best. My mom didn't let me go because she knew I would turn into a spoiled brat and that I would never learn to be accountable for my actions. It's equivalent to God. He doesn't want us to all be spoiled brats!
We find in the scriptures that "...no unclean thing can dwell with God." (1 Nehi 10:21) Because no unclean thing can dwell with our Father in Heaven, He has provided us with a way to know how we can remain clean and be worthy to live in His presence once again. He has done this through commandments as found in the Bible and also through His living day Prophets in our own day. We are promised so many blessings as we follow and keep the commandments of God. We read many of these blessings in the Bible...
"..and the fulfilling of commandments bringeth remission of sins." 3 Nephi 15:10
"Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey." Deuteronomy 6:3
Most of all, we feel the love of God and our Savior Jesus Christ as we choose to follow their ways, not the world's ways.
"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love." John 15:10
Sometimes being disobedient causes us to miss out on a trip to Chuck E. Cheese but most of the time there are more serious consequences when we disobey Heavenly Father. I have spent a large portion of my life choosing to live by my own rules and own desires and in those times I have experienced a lot of heart ache and a disconnection to God. I now understand and appreciate that commandments are not given to me to control me or tell me what to do- they are given to me for my own true happiness and my own salvation. We are happier and closer to God when we are obedient to Him. I invite you to ponder in your hearts in what ways you can be more obedient to your Father who loves you. I promise that you will feel more of His love and you will feel closer to your eternal life with Him.
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