Quote of the Day

"You cannot run away from weakness; you must sometime fight it out or perish; and if that be so, why not now and where you stand?"
Robert Louis Stevenson

This quote reminds me of this scripture which I read yesterday and I have been thinking about since.

Doctrine & Covenants 58:
26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; (We have so much potential! If we really made it a priority we could do SO MUCH GOOD even in small ways.)

28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

29 But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, (reminds me of when I was little and I would wait to do chores to help my mom until she made me. Or at work when I know that something needs to be done but I wait until I'm asked...) and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.

30 Who am I that made man, saith the Lord, that will hold him guiltless that obeys not my commandments?

31 Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled?

32 I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing. (This suggests that slothfulness in keeping commandments can result in the revoking of blessings. Ouch.)

33 Then they say in their hearts: This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But wo unto such, for their reward lurketh cbeneath, and not from above.

So I've been thinking a lot about slothfulness. About the need to be proactive and valiant. I find that I have been stuck in a rut of complacency. I have technically been doing everything I should, but according to this passage, "he that doeth not anything until he is commanded" may be doing everything that is technically required, but it's not what the Lord is asking.

The other part that really struck me was this: "I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing. Then they say in their hearts: This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled." I realized that when I murmur or complain about not receiving something I feel like I have been promised, it is likely because I am keeping commandments with doubt or with slothfulness (verse 29).