My senior year of high school was the most spiritually consistent time of my life. My seminary teacher and seminary class built me up to withstand the trials and temptations of the world. On the very first day of class my teacher told the class we were going to do the Hokey Pokey. We all stood up, confused and tired, unsure of where he was going with it. We went through each limb, taking the chance to put our right arm in, our left arm in, and each leg in turn. At last we came to putting out whole selves in. As we did this each member of the class came to understand the demonstration without needing clarification. In this class we had to put our whole selves in in order to get get our whole selves out. If we are to become whole first we must be willing to give of our whole selves. As said in Matthew Chapter 10, "He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. If we will give our lives to the Lord he will make us truly whole. There are many ways to put our whole selves in, but sometimes they are hard to recognize. Alma wrote of the sheep of the good shepherd in chapter 5 saying, "if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd... ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd." This section also cross-references to Matthew 6:24 which states, "No man can serve two masters... Ye cannot serve God and mammon." As a part of giving our whole selves to God we must remove the actions that serve Satan. As long as a part of us disobeys the word of the good shepherd or listens to the servants of Satan we cannot give our whole selves to God.
One of the best ways for us to give ourselves to God is to serve His children. King Benjamin taught that "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." If we will give up our time and effort for others we show God our willingness to put our whole selves into His work. We should take every opportunity to serve and bless those around us as a part of giving our whole selves to the will of God.
Sometimes we run our of ideas for how to give our whole selves to God. But when in doubt there is nothing better to do than pray. Enos wrote of how he prayed to know how to put his whole self in: "I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul... and there came a voice unto me saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed." If we are ever unsure of our standing with God, whether we need to turn from Satan, or who we should serve, we can always go to Him in prayer and trust that he will answer and assist us. In relating prayer to turning our whole selves to God and serving others Elder Bednar said in the last General Conference, "Prayer becomes more meaningful as we counsel with the Lord in all of our doings, as we express heartfelt gratitude, and as we pray for others." If we will ask God how to put our whole selves in and how we can better serve others He will bless us.
The wholeness that God can bless us with when we lose our lives for his sake and find them again is very difficult to describe. I believe the wholeness we receive is much like the emotions felt by the people of King Benjamin when they said, "the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent... has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." God grants us the desire to do only His will as we turn to Him. I believe our wholeness is referred to later in the same chapter when King Benjamin says, "I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his." To have Christ seal us to him must be a wholeness we cannot possible feel any other way. Christ being our perfect Redeemer is our greatest example and to be sealed to Him in this sense must mean that we are inseparably connected with Him. We would be with Him forever, enjoying eternal happiness and everlasting exaltation. I know that God wants us to give our whole selves to him so that He can make us whole and I know that He will do that if we will do the Hokey Pokey and put our whole selves in.
Works Cited
Matthew 10:39
Alma 5:38
Matthew 6:24
Mosiah 2:17
Enos 1:4-5
November 2008 Ensign page 41
Mosiah 5:2, 15
10 comments:
Eric, I enjoyed your blog! I especially like your hokey pokey story :) I am inspired to recommit my whole self to the Lord. Thank you for your testimony!
I enjoyed this blog! I loved your story and how it governed the entire blog. This has helped me realize that I need to "put my whole self in" and that I need to do the Lord's will more than my own. Thanks!
This is a great blog! I really liked your story also, and the imagery of putting your WHOLE self in really emphasized to me of how important it is to do everything that is required for us, and not what is just convenient. Thank you!
Eric, great job! Your blog was very well-organized. Thanks for your testimony at the end.
Wow.....I don't think I will ever think of the Hokey Pokey the same way again.LOL. Good story, Good testimony.
very good blog. i like how you explain that service to others is one of the best way to "put our whole selves in". good job
Eric- Your title caught me. I love the hokey pokey. And that is quite the inventive way to put your whole self in and get your whole self out. I think i will use this example one day. THnak you for your words.
I enjoyed your blog. I liked where you talked about serving two masters. Often we settle for following most of Gods commandments and serving him, while maintaining 1 or 2 things we need to fix. it is important to remember that we must always strive for perfection, and not settle for mediocre.
Thanks for your blog.
I really liked your analogy with the Gospel and the hokey pokey, it was awesome! I also enjoyed your comments on how we can "put our whole selfs in" by serving and praying for others and repentance.
I really enjoyed your blog! Your humor in the beginning made me laugh but your blog turned out to be very touching and inspiring. Thank you for sharing your testimony with us all.
Post a Comment