Do not delay

There will be weeping & wailing & gnashing of teeth if we subscribe to the Scarlett O'Hara Syndrome & procrastinate.

"The scriptures make the danger of delay clear. It is that we may discover that we have run out of time. The God who gives us each day as a treasure will require an accounting. We will weep, and He will weep, if we have intended to repent and to serve Him in tomorrows which never came or have dreamt of yesterdays where the opportunity to act was past. This day is a precious gift of God. The thought "Someday I will" can be a thief of the opportunities of time and the blessings of eternity."

--Henry B. Eyring, "This Day", Ensign, May 2007, 89–91

Not yet

We have a cat that demands attention. I know, most cats don't do that, but this cat does. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, she wants attention & she wants it now. And she keeps meowing. I'll explain to her why I won't stop & scratch her. I tell her "NO!" I tell her not yet, but she keeps meowing. I had to laugh when I read the first of this quote: "The truth is that not yet usually means never.…" Boy does Jae understand that.

The next part of the thought, "trying to run away from responsibility …" hits very close to home. I know Christ is the Savior, the redeemer of the world, I just don't want to have to face responsibility.

"The truth is that not yet usually means never. Trying to run away from the responsibility to decide about Christ is childish. Pilate sought to refuse responsibility for deciding about Christ, but Pilate's hands were never dirtier than just after he had washed them."

--Neal A. Maxwell, "Why Not Now?", Ensign, Nov. 1974, 12

I also found this entry, Not this day when looking for Elder Maxwell's quote. In fact, I kept thinking Not this day was Elder Maxwell's quote instead of President Eyring's quote.

"The Savior will let you feel the love He feels for those you serve. The call is an invitation to become like Him."

--Elder Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, May 2000, 66.

Not this day

We've talked about the Scarlett O'Hara Syndrome here & here. In fact one of those entries is where this quote came from.

"There is a danger in the word someday when what it means is "not this day."

"Someday I will repent."
"Someday I will forgive him."
"Someday I will speak to my friend about the Church."
"Someday I will start to pay tithing."
"Someday I will return to the temple."
"Someday."

--Henry B. Eyring, "This Day", Ensign, May 2007, 89–91

Willl "someday" ever come???

Scripture study

Do you think reading scriptures daily is often? I don't know about carefully, but I do read the scriptures daily.

"We can and must go often and carefully to the word of God. If we become casual in our study of the scriptures, we will become casual in our prayers."

--Elder Henry B. Eyring, Ensign, Nov. 2001, 17

And, I seem to be getting more out of The Book of Mormon this year than I did last year.

The fire of your testimony

I like the sound of "fire of your testimony." I also like we have two new quotes, especially after last night having two repeats.

"Keep the fire of your testimony of the restored gospel and your witness of our Redeemer burning so brightly that our children can warm their hands by the fire of your faith."

--President Boyd K. Packer Ensign, May 2003, 84

And the next one about helps to give us courage.

"We have great helps to give us courage in this life. The greatest is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Because of what He did, sins can be washed away in the waters of baptism. We can renew that blessing when we partake of the sacrament in faith and with a repentant heart."

--Henry B. Eyring, "Moral Courage", Liahona, Mar 2010, 4–7

We can certainly use all the help we can get to give us courage.

Ideals are stars to steer by

This first quote is an oldie but a goldie … couldn't resist that cliché. Sister Smith was the general Relief Society president in 1976, 35 years ago.

"Ideals are stars to steer by; they are not sticks to beat ourselves with."

--Barbara B. Smith, Ensign, March 1976

It's been a long time since I've been that idealistic. I don't know if I ever was.

"We cannot control what others choose to do, and so we cannot force our children to heaven, but we can determine what we will do. And we can decide that we will do all we can to bring down the powers of heaven into that family we want so much to have forever."

--Elder Henry B. Eyring; Ensign, February 1998, Page16

We can only teach our children & hope they will make good choices.

Choice

Just as freedom isn't free, choice isn't free either. We have the opportunity to make choices.

"No temptation, no pressure, no enticing can overcome us unless we allow such. If we make the wrong choice, we have no one to blame but ourselves. President Brigham Young once expressed this truth by relating it to himself. Said he: "If Brother Brigham shall take a wrong track, and be shut out of the Kingdom of heaven, no person will be to blame but Brother Brigham. I am the only being in heaven, earth, or hell, that can be blamed." He continued: "This will equally apply to every Latter-day Saint. Salvation is an individual operation."

--Thomas S. Monson, "The Three Rs of Choice", Ensign, Nov. 2010, 67–70

President Henry B. Eyring says we can also help others, but it requires faith to follow counsel.

This life

is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. Alma 34:32

"This life is not so much a time for getting and accumulating as it is a time for giving and becoming. Mortality is the battlefield upon which justice and mercy meet. But they need not meet as adversaries, for they are reconciled in the Atonement of Jesus Christ for all who wisely use Today."

--Lance B. Wickman, "Today", Ensign, May 2008, 103–5

And this next one, really strikes a chord with me.

"Just as Jesus used a child in His mortal ministry as an example for the people of the pure love they must and could have to be like Him, He has offered us the family as an example of an ideal setting in which we can learn how to love as He loves. That is because the greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships."

--Henry B. Eyring, "Our Perfect Example", Ensign, Nov 2009, 70–73

The greatest joys & sorrows ...

Someday ...

I could easily have named this entry "Scarlett O'Hara Syndrome," but I didn't

"There is a danger in the word someday when what it means is “not this day.”...The scriptures make the danger of delay clear. It is that we may discover that we have run out of time. The God who gives us each day as a treasure will require an accounting. We will weep, and He will weep, if we have intended to repent and to serve Him in tomorrows which never came or have dreamt of yesterdays where the opportunity to act was past. This day is a precious gift of God. The thought “Someday I will” can be a thief of the opportunities of time and the blessings of eternity."

--Henry B. Eyring, "This Day", Ensign, May 2007, 89–91

If we delay or procrastinate, we get what we get, not what we necessarily wanted.

"The axiom 'You get what you pay for' is true for spiritual rewards as well. You get what you pay for in obedience, in faith in Jesus Christ, in diligent application of the truths that you learn."

--Richard G. Scott, "The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing", Ensign, May 2003, 75

Do it now.

Faith to follow counsel

I requested 2 reading assignments today. The quotes from the first request have already been posted, but these have not been received before.

"The kind of life you live, your disposition, your very nature, will be determined by your thoughts, of which your acts are but the outward expression. Thought is the seed of action."

--David O. McKay, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay, 23: Developing a Christlike Character

 This quote is the first by President Eyring.

"God offers us counsel not just for our own safety but for the safety of His other children, whom we should love. There are few comforts so sweet as to know that we have been an instrument in the hands of God in leading someone else to safety. That blessing generally requires the faith to follow counsel when it is hard to do."

--Henry B. Eyring, "Safety in Counsel", Liahona, Jun 2008, 2–7