Life's Test

"The greatest battle of life is fought within the silent chambers of your own soul."
-President David O. McKay

A prophet of the Lord said the above statement. How true it is! Have you ever truly considered how important your soul is? Have you ever considered what forces are attempting to garner your attention and persuade you to side with them? Though you may feel completely alone in this world - insignificant, small, unnoticed, forgotten - you are far from it. Your soul is of immortal and eternal worth to your Father in Heaven; His work and His glory is YOU. And then of course there is the adversary. He wants nothing more than your misery and unhappiness. He will do anything to bring you down with him.

So understanding that, imagine then how truly important it is that we fight the greatest battle this life has to throw at us (the one we fight within ourselves) with the Lord on our side. We are involved in the most titanic conflict ever; we are the soldiers, the generals, the perpetrators, and the spoils. We must make every choice count. Every thought and desire is precious ammo with which we arm ourselves and ultimately signal which side we are truly on. There is no fence-sitting in this conflict. There is no neutrality nor apathy. We are "free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" (2 Nephi 2:27). But we must make a choice, and it is always our choice. 

This understanding might be a bit overwhelming. I know sometimes I feel that way. But the ultimate comfort is that despite all of this pressure and importance placed upon us and our decisions, we can come out on top no matter what if we make just a few simple choices.

First: Choose faith and discipleship in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Captain and our King. He will never lead us astray. He will lead us by the hand through the hailstorm of spiritual bullets and cannon fire. Trust Him and His power to lead you right and proper through all the battlefields of your own soul and the world we live in. 

Second: Found your life on the little things that influence us for good because they bring the Spirit of the Lord into our hearts. Prayer. Scripture study. A clean and righteous life. Service to others. Pure desires. Keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Following the counsel of the prophets. These small things can build a sure foundation upon which, once we are builded, we can never fall.

Three: Keep our covenants. There is power found within the promises we make the Lord at baptism and inside of His holy temples. As we keep our side of the bargain, the Lord keeps His. He blesses us and endows us with power.

These are just three examples of the kinds of choices we can make in order to forge an impenatrable armor with which we may pass Life's Test with flying colors. This I know. I have seen it in my own life. I know our Savior lives, and loves us. He is always there to guide us. I bear testimony of these things in the sacred name of the Eternal Captain of my soul, Jesus Christ. Amen.