Only as God is revealed to us through the Holy Ghost can we comprehend the inheritance that can be ours as His children. Knowing what it means to be a child of God requires us to come to know God. In other words, we say it, hear it, and sing it so frequently that we may not give much thought to what it actually means to be a child of God. Unfortunately, as with any basic truth that is repeated often, there is a danger that it may become trite. Since you were a child, many of you have been taught and have sung, “I am a child of God, And he has sent me here,” 9 and as you have sung and listened, you have felt the Spirit witness this truth to you. We need to remember that the Lord has also described our day as “noon-day.” 8 Our IdentityĪ foundational truth we need to clearly understand is our divine identity. The light and truth that the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel has brought about can push away all darkness from our minds and lives. More important than the words I speak, I pray that your hearts and minds will be open to receive light and truth from the Holy Ghost. path of Christian discipleship.” My great desire is for each of us to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.” 7 My message is centered in that quest and how we can be more diligent, joyful, and successful in that journey.Īs you begin a new year and a new semester, I hope that some of what I say will help you focus your goals on “the divine things that matter most.” I invite you to pay close attention to what the Holy Ghost whispers to your heart during our time together. With President Uchtdorf’s counsel burning in my heart, I will focus today “on the basics of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ”-“the sublime.
We live in days in which the mists of darkness are “exceedingly great.” 4 Satan is “the father of lies,” 5 and his lies “blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men.” 6 One of Satan’s subtle but more pervasive strategies is to distract us from the things that matter most with a never-ending array of mind-numbing trivialities. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship-the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace. It comes from paying attention to the divine things that matter most. It comes from placing our attention and efforts on the basics of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light. As I pondered, I was reminded of these words from President Dieter F. Since receiving this assignment a few months ago, I have pondered and prayed earnestly to know what the Lord would have me share. In all my years of listening to these devotionals, it never occurred to me that I would be speaking in one. 2 Nowadays I have the BYU Speeches podcast and listen regularly. Madsen’s talk “House of Glory” was perhaps the best temple preparation I received. Covey’s talk “An Educated Conscience.” 1 Listening to Truman G. When I was a student here, I discovered that you could purchase cassette tapes of selected devotional talks, and I bought several. For many years I have been somewhat of a BYU devotional junkie. A painting of Jesus Christ in the sacrocubism style of Jorge Cocco Santangelo.īrothers and sisters, it is difficult to express what a surreal experience it is for me to stand at this pulpit and speak at a BYU devotional.