Standing in darkness at noon day - not taking advantage of the Gospel

Joseph Smith said something very similar to, "if Saints will not live below their privileges, the angels cannot be constrained from being their companions".

This is something that Dieter Uchtdorf spoke about in Priesthood session of General Conference. Here's how he concluded that talk:

My dear brethren, may we diligently seek to learn the doctrine of the holy priesthood, may we strengthen our testimonies line upon line by receiving the revelations of the Spirit, and may we find true joy in daily priesthood service. As we do these things, we will begin to live up to our potential and privileges as priesthood holders, and we will be able to “do all things through Christ which strengtheneth [us].”

Notice that it is our privilege to serve and our privilege to bring others to Christ, and in so doing we will have joy and help from above.

The gospel provides access to great help from above. The key to having all of this help is living the gospel fully. Another verse in which the Lord talks about a similar concept is in D.C. 95:

6They who are not chosen have sinned a very grievous sin, in that they are ^awalking in ^bdarkness at noon-day.

This is a verse talking about building the temple prior to being able to "prune the vineyard" or preach the gospel. Remember from Elder Bednar's famous talk on "tender mercies" that we decide through our living if we are chosen or not.

It is important to know the Lord's stance on the temple - if we are not taking advantage of it, then we are choosing to live in greater darkness than is necessary. Certainly attending the temple is one of our privileges, and the Lord and Prophet are going to great lengths and investing much time and money into making sure that there are temples close to every people.

One other example showing how important temples are is the fact that the Prophet always opens conference by talking about the temples that have been dedicated in the last six months. Of all things he could choose to talk about, this is the one consistent item he brings up. It certainly shows its priority.

We should also make attending the temple a priority because without it we are likely standing in darkness at noon day. (I understand some may not live close and some may have difficult obstacles in getting to the temple. Just do your best. :)

Have a good day.

Being close to the Lord - what can keep it from happening?

Christ explains why people don't come to him in D.C. 84.

49And the whole ^aworld lieth in sin, and groaneth under^bdarkness and under the ^cbondage of sin.

50And by this you may know they are under the ^abondage of sin, because they come not unto me.

51For whoso cometh not unto me is under the ^abondage of sin.

52And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with ^amyvoice, and is not of me.

53And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole ^aworld ^bgroaneth under sin and darkness even now.

Interesting that it is sin that blinds us to Christ. Apparently, even in this world where we walk by faith, if we're not involved in any sin, it should be somewhat obvious to us that Christ is involved. One of the sins of this generation is pride, which probably is the sin that keeps some from recognizing God in their lives.

Also, consider this verse in Helaman 13. Here Samuel the Lamanite says that those who have done wickedly are surrounded by evil spirits. I think that is a literal truth, not something figurative (just as it is clear from the scriptures and some stories that there are angels around as well):

36O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them.

37Behold, we are surrounded by ^ademons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us? And this shall be your language in those days.

Therefore, when we are making errors, we are more influenced by the bad of the world, and it's more difficult to discern Christ and accept him and his Gospel. The converse is also true. When we are doing good and being close to the good, it is much more likely that Christ becomes apparent to us and that we accept him.

Finally, as an aside, people talk about how 'evil' can come to us in ways never before seen in the world. I just had an experience with this. I was looking at the referring sources for the blog (i.e., where visitors came from that came here) and clicked on one of the links, and it was a pornography page - many naked pictures. I quickly closed it, but it's incredible that this is so accessible that I stumbled upon it. My kids are going to encounter difficult things in their lives...