Simple, Yet Seemingly Difficult, Yet Simple

What on earth could I be talking about? I was continuing my reading the other day in Mosiah and I noticed something interesting. Just a verse or two after talking about mankind's nothingness and God's greatness (see previous post) King Benjamin tells us how we can receive salvation. What the prophet Nephi calls the doctrine of Christ and then uses very similar words to describe what we need to do to be saved.

King Benjamin says that we receive salvation through the Atonement (Christ's sacrifice in Gethsemane and on the cross for our sins) and it is available to those who do three (simple) things. The first, put our trust in the Lord; in other words have faith. Second, be diligent in keeping the commandments, which is to say be obedient. Third and finally, continue in this faith and believe until the end of our lives. Simple, right?! Until we think and realize that we have to be obedient to ALL the commandments, even the ones we "don't like." We also have to do it for ALL of our lives, the whole endure to the end principle we hear preached. When you sit and look at it that way, it suddenly seems very difficult, but yet, it really isn't that hard.

We choose what we want to do everyday, so we just need to choose the commandments, the Lord's will. Nephi commands us to feast upon the words of Christ in order to have the Holy Ghost accompany us during the day/life, and that the words of Christ and the Holy Ghost will tell us everything we need to do. This, he says, is the doctrine of Christ. So no matter how seemingly difficult it is to have faith, be obedient in all commandments, and do that for the rest of our lives, it really isn't. We just need to make sure that in our drive to keep the commandments we are feasting upon the words of Christ, therefore we will have the Holy Ghost and we will gain, through His help, the desire to keep all the other commandments for the rest of our lives. Let's be honest, when you feel the Spirit you quickly realize that you want to feel it always and you know that keeping the commandments is not only the only way to have that feeling all the time but also the way you WANT to live (because you know it is just the right, correct thing).