Building Your Eternal Home
When
Jesus walked the dusty pathways of towns and villages that we now reverently
call the Holy Land and taught His disciples by beautiful Galilee, He often
spoke in parables, in language the people understood best. Frequently, He
referred to home building in relationship to the lives of those who listened.
He
declared: “Every … house divided against itself shall not stand.” (Matt. 12:25.)
Later He cautioned: “Behold, mine house is a house of order, … and not a house
of confusion.” (D&C 132:8.)
In
a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph
Smith at Kirtland, Ohio, December 27, 1832, the Master
counseled: “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a
house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of
learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” (D&C 88:119.)
Where
could any of us locate a more suitable blueprint whereby we could wisely and
properly build a house to personally occupy throughout eternity?
Such
a house would meet the building code outlined in Matthew—even a house built
“upon a rock” (Matt. 7:24), a
house capable of withstanding the rains of adversity, the floods of opposition,
and the winds of doubt everywhere present in our challenging world.
Some
might question: “But that revelation was to provide guidance for the
construction of a temple. Is it relevant today?”
I
would respond: “Did not the Apostle Paul declare, ‘Know ye not that ye are the
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?’” (1 Cor. 3:16.)
Perhaps
if we consider these architectural guidelines on an individual basis, we can
more readily appreciate this divine counsel from the Master Builder, the
Creator of the world, our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
Our
inspired blueprint first cautions that our house should be a house of prayer. The Master taught:
“And
when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to
pray … , that they may be seen of men. …
“But
thou, when thou prayest, … pray to thy Father which is in secret. …
“Use
not vain repetitions. …
“After
this manner … pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
“Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
“Give
us this day our daily bread.
“And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
“And
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.” (Matt. 6:5–7, 9–13.)
This
element of our blueprint can be taught to children when they are yet young.
When our oldest son was about three, he would kneel with his mother and me in
our evening prayer. I was serving as the bishop of the ward at the time, and a
lovely lady in the ward, Margaret Lister, lay perilously ill with cancer. Each
night we would pray for Sister Lister. One evening our tiny son offered the
prayer and confused the words of the prayer with a story from a nursery book.
He began: “Heavenly Father, please bless Sister Lister, Henny Penny, Chicken
Licken, Turkey Lurkey, and all the little folks.” We held back the smiles that
evening. Later we were humbled as Margaret Lister sustained a complete
recovery. We do not demean the prayer of a child. After all, our children have
more recently been with our Heavenly Father than have we.
Let
our house be a house of prayer.
Our
house should also be a house of fasting. This
portion of the blueprint is personified in the account found in Isaiah titled
the “True Fast”: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? …
“To
deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to
thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide
not thyself from thine own flesh?”
The
reward is then announced: “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and
thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before
thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
“Then
shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say,
Here I am. …
“And
if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then
shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
“And
the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, … and
thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters
fail not.” (Isa. 58:6–11.)
Let
our house be a house of fasting.
Our
house is to be a house of faith. James
recorded:
“If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
“But
let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of
the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:5–6.)
A
practical application of such abiding faith is found in the spirit of Nephi and
his stirring declaration: “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath
commanded.” (1 Ne. 3:7.) He
did not waver; he believed. Is there a counterpart application even today?
Some
years ago I accompanied President Hugh B. Brown on a tour of the Samoan
Mission. The members and missionaries in American Samoa had advised us that a
severe drought had imperiled their water supply to the point that our chapels
and our school would of necessity be closed if rain did not soon fall. They
asked us to unite our faith with theirs.
Signs
of the drought were everywhere as we left the airport at Pago Pago and
journeyed to the school at Mapasaga. The sun was shining brightly; not a cloud
appeared in the azure blue sky. The members rejoiced as the meeting began. He
who offered the opening prayer thanked our Heavenly Father for our safe
arrival, knowing that we would somehow bring the desired rainfall. As President
Brown rose to speak, the sun was soon shaded by gathering clouds. Then we heard
the clap of thunder and saw the flash of lightning. The heavens opened. The
rains fell. The drought ended.
Later
at the airport, as we prepared for the short flight to Western Samoa, the pilot
of the small plane said to the ground crew, “This is the most unusual weather
pattern I have ever seen. Not a cloud is in the sky except over the Mormon
school at Mapasaga. I don’t understand it!”
President
Brown said to me, “Here’s your opportunity. Go help him understand.” I did so.
Our
house surely is a house of faith.
Let
our house be a house of learning. Said the
Lord: “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by
study and also by faith.” (D&C 88:118.)
He counseled: “Come … learn of me … and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt. 11:28–29.)
No other quest for learning promises such a profound reward.
Let
our house be a house of learning.
Our
house is to be a house of glory. For our house
to be such, we need to be square with God, fair with others, and honest with
ourselves. One cannot be one person and pretend to be another. Samuel Clemens,
better known as Mark Twain, had Huckleberry Finn teach us this vital lesson.
Huckleberry Finn is talking:
“It
made me shiver. And I about made up my mind to pray, and see if I couldn’t try
to quit being the kind of a boy I was and be better. So I kneeled down. But the
words wouldn’t come. Why wouldn’t they? It warn’t no use to try and hide it
from Him. … I knowed very well why they wouldn’t come. … It was because I was
playing double. I was letting on to give up
sin, but away inside of me I was holding on to the biggest one of all. I was
trying to make my mouth say I would do
the right thing and the clean thing, … but deep down in me I knowed it was a
lie, and He knowed it. You can’t pray a lie—I
found that out.” (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, New
York: Washington Square Press, Pocket Books, 1973, pp. 271–72; italics added.)
Someone
once philosophized, “Consistency, thou art a jewel.” (The Home Book of Quotations, sel. Burton
Stevenson, New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co., 1934, p. 304.) By being
consistently good, we can ensure a house of glory.
Our
house is to be a house of order. “To every thing
there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Eccl. 3:1),
advised Ecclesiastes, the Preacher. Such is true in our lives. Let us provide
time for family,
time for work, time for study, time for service, time for recreation, time for
self—but above all, time for Christ.
Then
our house will be a house of order.
Finally,
let our house be a house of God. Clean
thoughts, noble purpose, a willing heart, and ready hands are all features of a
house of God. He does not leave us to struggle alone but stands ever ready to
help.
A
few years ago, I was afforded the privilege to serve as a mission president and
became intimately acquainted with more than four hundred missionaries. We had
one young missionary who was very ill. After weeks of hospitalization, as the
doctor prepared to undertake extremely serious and complicated surgery, he
asked that we send for the missionary’s mother and father. He advised there was
a possibility the patient would not survive the surgery.
The
parents came. Late one evening, the father and I entered a hospital room in
Toronto, Canada, placed our hands upon the head of the young missionary, and
gave him a blessing. What happened following that blessing was a testimony to
me.
The
missionary was in a six-bed ward in the hospital. The other beds were occupied
by five men with a variety of illnesses. The morning of his surgery, the
missionary’s bed was empty. The nurse came into the room with the breakfast
these men normally ate. She took a tray over to the patient in bed number one
and said, “Fried eggs this morning, and I have an extra portion for you!”
The
occupant of bed number one had suffered an accident with his lawnmower. Other
than an injured toe, he was well physically. He said to the nurse, “I’ll not be
eating this morning.”
“All
right, we shall give your breakfast to your partner in bed number two.”
As
she approached that patient, he said, “I think I’ll not eat this morning.”
Each
of the five men declined breakfast. The young lady exclaimed, “Other mornings
you eat us out of house and home, and today not one of you wants to eat! What
is the reason?”
Then
the man who occupied bed number six answered: “You see, bed number three is
empty. Our friend is in the operating room under the surgeon’s hands. He needs
all the help he can get. He is a missionary for his church, and while we have
been patients in this ward, he has talked to us about the principles of his
church—principles of prayer, of faith, of fasting wherein we call upon the Lord
for blessings.” He continued, “We don’t know much about the Mormon church, but
we have learned a great deal about our friend; and we are fasting for him
today.”
The
operation was a success. When I attempted to pay the doctor, he countered,
“Why, it would be dishonest for me to accept a fee. I have never before
performed surgery when my hands seemed to be guided by a Power which was other
than my own. No,” he said, “I wouldn’t take a fee for the surgery which Someone
on high literally helped me to perform.”
Such
is a house of God.
This,
then, is our building project. We are master builders of eternal houses, even
“temples of God.” (See 1 Cor. 3:16.)
“Organize
yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of
prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of
glory, a house of order, a house of God.” (D&C 88:119.)
Then
the Lord, even our building inspector, may say to us, as He said when He
appeared to Solomon, a builder of another day: “I have hallowed this house,
which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine
heart shall be there perpetually.” (1 Kgs. 9:3.)
May
we follow this divinely provided blueprint. May we be successful builders of
our eternal homes, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. -- Thomas S Monson
