Goals lend purpose and direction to our living. They excite the imagination and stir interest, and they generate a strength of anticipation which can rally all the powers of one’s soul...The person who sets goals and strives to attain such is the master of his own fate.
Of all the holy agreements pertaining to the gospel of Jesus Christ, few, if any, would transcend in importance the oath and covenant of the priesthood. It is certainly one of the most sacred agreements, for it involves the sharing of heavenly powers and man’s upward reaching toward eternal goals. None of us can afford to be ignorant of the terms of this contract. To do so might cause us to miss the mark in our performance of duty and result in the forfeiture of promised blessings.
“A man traveling through the country came to a large city, very rich and splendid; he looked at it and said to his guide, ‘This must be a very righteous people, for I can only see but one little devil in this great city.’ “The guide replied, ‘You do not understand, sir. This city is so perfectly given up to wickedness that it requires but one devil to keep them all in subjection.’ Traveling on a little farther, he came to a rugged path and saw an old man trying to get up the hill side, surrounded by seven great, big, coarse‑looking devils. “’Why,’ says the traveller, ‘this must be a tremendously wicked old man! See how many devils there are around him!’ “’This,’ replied the guide, “is the only righteous man in the country; and there are seven of the biggest devils trying to turn him out of his path, and they all cannot do it”
A gospel covenant is a holy contract. “God in his good pleasure fixes the terms, which man accepts.” (Bible Dictionary)
I feel strongly that reading the things of God without remembering and pondering how those things fit into the divine scheme tends to confuse, not enlighten. Enlightenment occurs and truth is revealed as things are fitted together in an understandable way. In the process, the mind is stimulated. Memory is stirred, and the heart is prepared to respond to the whisperings of the Spirit.
Goals lend purpose and direction to our living. They excite the imagination and stir interest, and they generate a strength of anticipation which can rally all the powers of one’s soul...The person who sets goals and strives to attain such is the master of his own fate.
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