Enduring to the End - 13 June 2022

 

“Endure to the end: To remain true to the commandments of God and be true to the endowment and sealing ordinances of the temple despite temptation, opposition, and adversity throughout life” (Preach My Gospel).

Enduring to the end is NOT remaining true to Christ UNLESS temptation, opposition, and adversity occur throughout life. When prophets taught that enduring to the end is part of “the way” to receive all that God has, they didn’t mean that all we would have to do would be to manage to avoid completely rebelling against Christ while sweetly floating on soft clouds in the sky. Implicitly implied in that teaching is that we must trust in and stay true to Christ’s words, covenants, and commandments even when doing so seems to bring nothing but the exact opposite of “all that was promised.”

Often, Satan tries to persuade us to believe that the temptation, opposition, and adversity that we are personally experiencing is so extreme and extenuating that it excuses us to travel a different path. However, we should NEVER allow anyone or anything to excuse us from partaking of the strength, healing, comfort, direction, and forgiveness made possible by Christ through His atoning sacrifice! Rather, to receive all that Christ offers us, we must commit to follow the “thorny ways” that Christ showed us when He told each of us to “take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).

Fortunately for all of us who impatiently throw down our crosses at times, in God’s eyes, endurance is not about never falling down; it’s about never giving up no matter how far down you have fallen. As long as you are willing to turn back to Him, you can always repent and have all of His promises fully restored to you. Since His yoke truly is easy and His burden truly is light (Matthew 11:30), such a restoration of that cross, quite ironically, is the only true and ultimate source of rest.