The Responsibility for Having Oil in Our Personal Lamps
is an Individual Requirement and Opportunity.
Elder Marvin J. Ashton
"The oil of spiritual preparedness cannot be shared. The wise were not unkind or selfish when they refused oil to the foolish in the moment of truth. The kind of oil needed by all of us to light up the darkness and illuminate the way is not shareable. The oil could have been purchased at the market in the parable, but in our lives it is accumulated by righteous living, a drop at a time.
How can one share the blessings that come through visiting the sick?
How can one share in the blessings that come from assisting the widow or the fatherless?
How can one share a personal testimony?
How can one share the blessings of conference attendance?
How can one share the lesson of obedience learned in living the principle of tithing?
Certainly each must accumulate this kind of oil for [her]self. Let us not procrastinate. Midnight is so far and yet so close to those who have procrastinated.
'But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure. …' (Helaman 13:38)
There is an urgency in this day for us to prepare for the coming of the Lord. For you who have heeded the warning and continue in your preparations to accumulate the oil of righteousness in your lamps, great blessings are yours.
...Your lamp too can runneth over with spiritual fuel if you will but let it accumulate day by day, drop by drop, in righteous service to God and man."
Merry CHRISTmas!
Click here for All of Elder Ashton's message
I love your blog, Anne. The tiny drops of such sacred, spiritual oil lubricate the "wheels of life" and keep us going.
ReplyDeleteIn my recent care-giving situation I have often found myself on my knees several times a day, praying for an extra dose of Charity to help me control negative, annoying mind chatter and try to learn how to love as our Savior loves. In His loving kindness He sent me a Tender Mercy last week. Although it seemed to come in the form a a thought in my mind, it left a soft glow in my heart. The message was from our Savior as I pictured Him hanging on the cross, looking down upon His mother. He asked a faithful friend to look after her as if she were his own mother. What trust he had in John. What an honor for John to be chosen for this assignment. And then I thought of the man I love dearly. He is trusting me to care for his mother in ways he cannot do. What an honor is mine to have been chosen for this sacred assignment. With his love and my Savior's love and the enabling power of the Atonement, I too can magnify my calling and endure with CHARITY to the end.
Thank you for the Merry CHRISTmas wish.