The Lord Can Depend On Me!

In Matthew 21:16 we are reminded that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings we hear perfect praise. One particular primary song was brought to my attention this week, and I believe that its words are perfect praise, and a powerful lesson for each one of us to live every day! 

Says, the hymn,"The Lord needs valiant servants to do His work in the Latter-days who follow the teachings of Jesus and serve His people in a loving way. I will be His Servant and Keep my Covenants valiantly. I'll stand for truth, I'll stand for right! The Lord can depend on me!"

In the words to this song we learn the important message that each one of us are needed in the work of the Latter-days. We have a very specific purpose: to be someone that the Lord can depend on. We learn how to be such a person.

First, we are to follow the teachings of Jesus. What are the teachings of Jesus? They are the scriptures. We live in a day where the scriptures are available to each one of us with the click of a button on a cell phone, on a computer, or in the actual book themselves. The teachings of Jesus are His words and the stories from his life. The teachings of Jesus are also the words of prophets all the way through history even today. They are the words of both ancient and modern prophets. Teachings of Jesus can also be moments of personal revelation in our lives.

How do we follow the teachings of Jesus? I believe the first step is to learn the teachings. We cannot live what we do not know. Second we need not only to learn the teachings of Jesus, but we also need to remember those teachings. This can be done by reviewing those teachings on a daily basis. This can be done by surrounding ourselves with reminders of those lessons. It can happen by writing in our personal journals, and by sharing with our friends those great lessons we have learned.

When I think of someone who followed the teachings of Jesus I think of the prophet Joseph Smith. Having been taught by his family the value of the scriptures, Joseph knew what to do. When he read that those who lacked wisdom should ask God, he followed that counsel from the teachings of Jesus. He knelt and prayed to find out what to do next. He got an answer. He didn't think about the answer he received, he acted. Then he was given more of the teachings of Jesus literally directly from the mouth of the Savior. He proceeded to follow those teachings throughout His life.

The second way we become someone the Lord can depend on is by serving his people in a loving way. To me this means getting to know the people around us. Understanding what their needs, and concerns are. Understanding what brings them joy in life. Celebrating achievements together. It means being ready to follow the promptings of the spirit and go when the Lord tells you to go. It means not giving service that people will see, but meeting little needs in individuals ways just as the Savior does for us. It means to be the hands of the Savior and to bring people back to Him!

The Good Samaritan is a great example of someone who served in a loving way. He stopped on his journey even though he had a great deal of things to accomplish that day. He provided for immediate needs and then sent others to help in ways he could not help himself. Then he followed up and took care of future needs. He truly served in a loving way.

The third way we become someone the Lord can depend on is by keeping our covenants valiantly. What are our covenants? They are the promises that we make with God. Covenants include entering the waters of baptism, receiving your endownment in the temple, being sealed for eternity to families.
How do we keep our covenants? We keep the commandments. We comfort those that stand in need of comfort. We mourn with those that mourn. We devote ourselves to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We help other people to keep their covenants. We make sacrifices for God's work and will in our own lives and in the lives of the people around us.

We learn a great lesson in covenant keeping from the families of the 2000 strippling warriors. They kept their covenants so valiantly that they were willing to die rather than to pick up their swords and fight. They promised God that they would change and they stood true to that covenant. Their sons 2000 of them sacrificed for their families to be able to keep those covenants!

Finally, we learn from the primary song that for God to depend on us we need to stand for truth and right. This first involves know what truth is- knowledge of things as the really are, were, and really will be. Knowing what is right. There is a clear difference between right and wrong. We can practice also know what is not only good, but what is better, and ultimately what is best.

How do we stand? We make it clear what our stance is on political and social issues of our day. We live in faith rather than fear when sharing our knowledge and opinions with others. We allow others to worship how where and what they may, but we also be sure that we never lose that freedom ourselves. 

I believe that Captain Moroni in the Book of Mormon lived this principle well. He defend liberty. He rallied people around him to defend their religion and their freedom. He didn't sit idly by while his faith was torn apart around Him. He stood firm and steadfast.


I honestly feel that as we do our best to apply these principles of following the teachings of Jesus, serving his people in a loving way, keeping our covenants valiantly, and standing for truth and right that we can honestly say, "The Lord Can Depend On Me!"  

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