I have been pondering agency lately and would like to share a few thoughts, although it does not have to do specifically with what I am reading in the Book of Mormon. I was listening to a CD with songs from the 2005 primary program the other day and there was a phrase that stuck out to me from the song Agency which was an Ensign song picked for that year. IT goes something like, "I will use my agency to choose the right today." Now this may seem simple, but I was struck with the thought as I listened; my agency is a tool. It is something that I have been given to help me return to my Father. I always had viewed agency in the past a gift, or even a privilege, but never as a tool.
Amazingly, I was flipping through my gospel principles manual last night and turned to lesson 4, a lesson I had missed and never read, so I decided to take a few minutes and look over it. It is entitled Freedom to Choose. (Do you think Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something?) The following paragraph jumped out at me.
Agency makes our life on earth a period of testing. When planning the mortal creation of his children, God said, 'We will prove them herewith to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their Gos shall command them.'
I have been taught before that this life is a test, but as I read this paragraph, I viewed things in a way I never had before. I think that someimes rather than trying to excell at keeping the commandments and living righteously, I just try and glide by. I would never do this on a test for school or personal training, etc. My nature is to excel. The tool I can use to excel on the test of life is agency. Every day I am faced with dozens of choices; how to spend my time, how to treat my family, am I going to go visitng teaching, etc. Sometimes I choose good things, but not the best things and sometimes I make downright poor choices. The key word being my. Agency means not only that we are able to make choices, but that we must own them and be graded on them!!!! I pray that I will get an A and that I will be able to hear the words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant."
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2 comments:
You have an A+ in my book! Youhave always made good choices. I have learned from your comments that I need to be more aggressive in trying to excel rather than sliding by!
It's neat how the Lord works when he wants to teach us a particular principle. I think rather than coincidence, it was one of those "tender mercies" that you happened to turn to that lesson to reinforce the agency lesson.
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