Keep the Commandments—Beginning Right Now! | M. Russell Ballard | 1987

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Now is the time to determine to keep the commandments of God. Now is the time to repent, to create faithful families, and to fulfill our purpose.

This speech was given on September 6, 1987.

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"We call this a fireside. I’m not really sure what that means in the Church. But let me use my own interpretation tonight if I may. I would like to talk to you as I would talk to my own family—somewhat informally, but very earnestly. I would like to talk to you tonight about matters I think are of deep concern and I hope of deep interest to you in your lives as you prepare for the future.

Now Is the Time

Let me begin by reminding you that being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a very special privilege. Understanding the basic principles of the plan of salvation and the principles of life that we are to live by here upon the earth is a great blessing. Some of you may need to study the doctrines more diligently so you will know the full significance of the covenants and ordinances of the gospel plan and how it provides for us. Brothers and sisters, it’s wonderful to know of God’s plan to exalt his children. In mortality, separated from our Heavenly Father, we all walk by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must know his teachings and keep his commandments.

The missionary Amulek had some marvelous instructions on this subject. I read from the writings of Amulek as recorded in chapter 34 of Alma.

Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

For behold, 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.

And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

Amulek continues,

For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb. [Alma 34:31–36].

Brothers and sisters, today, tomorrow, next week is the time for our preparation. In fact, it’s a lifelong effort; it does not stop until we are safely dead with our testimony still burning very brightly. We ought to reverence life and cherish every minute of it. It should be so precious to us that we feel compelled to commit ourselves to making each day the very best day that we can, preparing ourselves someday to meet our Heavenly Father.

Not one of us here tonight knows how long he will be here upon the earth. Therefore, a wise man or a wise woman will constantly evaluate his or her life in light of the teachings of the gospel. We need to look deep into our own hearts and compare what we see in our lives today against what we have been taught about the glorious plan of salvation. Many may find that their lives are out of synchronization with the plan of salvation. If we see something in our lives that is not what it ought to be, then we must have the courage to repent and make the necessary changes immediately.

Tonight, my beloved young people, will you think about your own life?..."