Consider Your Ways, and from This Day Will the Lord Bless You

Elder Ciro Schmeil said Heavenly Father has a plan for us to come back home to Him. It is called the plan of salvation, or the plan of happiness. This life is the time to get ready to meet God. And God did not leave us alone. He gave us helps.

Elder Schmeil talked about two of those helps: Jesus Christ, and our covenants. A covenant is a sacred promise between us and God.

Jesus knows each of us. In the Book of Mormon, He promised that if we are humble and have faith in Him, He will make our weak things become strong.

Jesus said, “Come unto me, … and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; … and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” A yoke is a wooden bar that lets two animals pull a heavy load together. When we make covenants, it is like we are yoked with Jesus. He pulls with us, and our load feels lighter.

Our first covenant is baptism. Then every Sunday we take the sacrament. We promise to remember Jesus and keep His commandments, and He promises that His Spirit can be with us. Elder Schmeil said we do not need to be perfect to take the sacrament. We need to be willing to try.

Elder Schmeil told a story from the Old Testament. The Lord asked the Israelites to rebuild His temple. But they were busy building their own houses. They worked very hard, but it was like putting their money into a bag with holes. Everything leaked out! The Lord told them, “Consider Your Ways, and from This Day Will the Lord Bless You.” That means, think about what you are doing.

So the people changed. They started building the temple. And the Lord said, “From this day will I bless you”

Elder Schmeil said Heavenly Father is not asking us to build a temple with bricks. He wants us to build a strong friendship with Him and Jesus by keeping our covenants. When we put God first, He makes our efforts bigger.

Elder Schmeil said God keeps His promises. He has seen it in his own life. The sacrament reminds him every week how much he needs Jesus.

A scripture for this talk: Ether 12:27. Jesus can make weak things become strong when we come to Him.

Elder Ciro Schmeil taught that God is our Father in Heaven and prepared a plan for us to return to Him, the plan of salvation or “the great plan of happiness” This life is the time to prepare to meet God, and God didn’t leave us alone. As President Dallin H. Oaks has taught, God gave us “divine helps for mortality” Elder Schmeil focused on two: the Savior Jesus Christ and our covenants.

Jesus knows us individually and will help us if we seek Him. He promised, “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. … For if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” Humility means having a broken heart, being open to God’s will. Faith in Christ means trusting Him even when we don’t have all the answers. President Oaks said, “By far, God’s strongest mortal help was His provision of a Savior, Jesus Christ, who would suffer to pay the price and provide forgiveness for repented sins.”

We show faith in Christ by making and keeping covenants. A covenant is a sacred promise between God and His children: God sets the conditions, we agree to obey, and He promises to bless us. Covenants bind us to Jesus because He is central to every one. He invites, Take my yoke upon you and learn of me and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Through covenants we are yoked with Him, and our burdens become lighter.

Baptism is our first covenant, and each week at the sacrament we renew our promises and covenant to always remember the Savior. Elder Schmeil said the sacrament prayer reminds us that we do not need to be perfect to partake of the sacrament. We need to be willing to take His name, remember Him, and keep His commandments. In return, we can always have His Spirit. He shared a warning from a Church leader: a time will come when we hesitate to go to church and take the sacrament. But if we go anyway, with a broken heart, blessings will keep us established on the firm foundation that is Jesus Christ.

The sacrament also prepares us for temple covenants. In the Old Testament, the Lord commanded the Israelites to rebuild the temple, but they didn’t make it a priority. The Lord said through the prophet Haggai, “Consider your ways.” He told them they had sown much and brought in little, earning wages only to put them into a bag with holes, because of His house that is waste while every man ran to his own house. They were doing much but accomplishing little because God’s house wasn’t a priority. When they considered their ways, repented, and began to rebuild, the Lord said, “From this day will I bless you”

Elder Schmeil said Heavenly Father isn’t asking us to physically build a temple, but to build a strong relationship with Him and Jesus Christ through covenants. As we consider our ways and adjust, He will magnify our efforts. “God knows what is best for us and is eager to bless us.”

He testified that God keeps His promises. He has given Elder Schmeil spiritual and physical strength when he needed it most. The sacrament is a weekly reminder of what the Savior Jesus Christ has done for me and how much I need him. He closed with King Benjamin: “Consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.”

Scripture to look up: Ether 12:27. The Lord promises to make weak things become strong for those who humble themselves and have faith in Him.

Elder Ciro Schmeil, a General Authority Seventy, began with the plan: “God is our Father in Heaven, and He prepared a plan for us to return to His presence,” called the plan of salvation or the great plan of happiness. This life is the time to prepare to meet God. “And God did not leave us alone in this journey.” As President Dallin H. Oaks has taught, God gave “divine helps for mortality.” Elder Schmeil addressed two: “The Savior Jesus Christ and our covenants.”

Jesus Christ knows us individually and he will help us if we seek him. He quoted Ether 12:27: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. … For if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” Humility’s central feature is a broken heart, being receptive to the will of God, and that requires faith in Christ, which means that we trust him even when we don’t have all the answers. President Oaks taught, “By far, God’s strongest mortal help was His provision of a Savior, Jesus Christ, who would suffer to pay the price and provide forgiveness for repented sins.” That is why faith in Christ is the first principle of the gospel.

“We show our faith in Christ by making and keeping covenants with God.” A covenant is a sacred promise: God sets the conditions, His children agree to obey, and He promises to bless them as they do. “Covenants bind us to Jesus Christ because He is central to every covenant we make.” In Matthew 11 the Savior invites, Come unto me and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. “It is through covenants that we become yoked with the Savior Jesus Christ and our burdens become lighter.”

Baptism is the first covenant; each week at the sacrament we renew those promises and covenant to always remember the Savior, who instituted the ordinance with the promise of His Spirit. The sacrament prayer reminds us that we do not need to be perfect to partake of the sacrament. We need to be willing to take upon us his name, remember him, and keep his commandments. In return, we have the promise of His Spirit, essential for strength to stay on the path. He shared a Church leader’s warning that a time will come in each life when there will be a hesitation to go to church and partake of the sacrament. If it hasn’t happened yet, it will. But going anyway, with a broken heart and contrite spirit, brings blessings that will keep you firm. It will keep you solid. It will keep you established on the firm foundation that is Jesus Christ. Preach My Gospel teaches that aligning Sabbath activities with God’s intent brings joy, peace, and spiritual nourishment.

The sacrament also prepares us for temple covenants, and he found insight in Haggai. The Lord commanded Israel to rebuild the temple, but they didn’t make it a priority. Displeased, the Lord said, “Consider your ways. ‘Ye have sown much, and bring in little; … and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” “Why? … Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” The lesson: The Lord could not magnify their efforts because their actions were not aligned with God’s will. Although they were doing much, they were not accomplishing much because God’s holy house was not a priority. When they considered their ways, repented, and began rebuilding, the Lord declared, “From this day will I bless you” (Haggai 2:19).

“May we also consider our ways. Heavenly Father is not asking us to physically build the temple, but He is asking us to build a strong relationship with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, through our covenants.” As we consider our ways and adjust, He will magnify our efforts. “God knows what is best for us and is eager to bless us.”

His testimony was personal: “I know that God keeps His promises. I have seen it in my life. He gave me spiritual and physical strength when I needed it most.” The sacrament has helped him keep his baptismal and temple covenants; It is a weekly reminder of what the Savior Jesus Christ has done for me and how much I need him in my life. He closed with King Benjamin: “Consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness” (Mosiah 2:41), which, he testified, is only possible as we make and keep our covenants.