Letting Go

How important is your name?
And would you give it up?

A man approached me and asked me; how important was my name to me, and if I would give it up.

I hesitated for a moment, knowing very well that the question was not so shallow. The word "name" carried the deeper connotation of identity. At first I thought I wouldn't give up my name, my identity, that's who I really was, but that thought was fleeting.  With absolute determination and conviction I looked directly at him and said, if my eternal salvation depended on it, I would easily give up my name.

The truth is, our eternal salvation does depend on it. We must be willing to completely give up the things of this world, in order to progress toward God.

How many people have I known to pray for further light and knowledge, then rejected it when it came? Rejected the Lord's gift! Just because it didn't come in the package they thought it should come in. Or because it didn't come from the person they thought it should come from. And of course, because the further light and knowledge just didn't fit with their well established longstanding traditions.

So many times we hold to our beliefs, to our traditions, when our eternal salvation is on the line. Why are we as mortals so willing to give up our eternal salvation just to maintain a name, a label? Why are we so willing to trade our eternal salvation just so that we can stubbornly hold to a worldly care, or tradition, or heritage?

To give up who I am, to give up my identity, to give up what makes me, me. How often have I held so tightly to things, that I wouldn't let go of one thing in order to grasp ahold of something better?

In order to move on, to progress, we must be willing to let go, to move out of our comfort zone, to move ahead on the next step of the principle, the next step on the path to God.

We need to be humble, meek, submissive, adaptable as a child. As the scripture says; "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." ~ Mark 10:15

If a person prays for further light and knowledge, then that person should be prepared to accept and follow the directions the Lord sends.

How long will the Lord keep answering those who reject His gifts?

"Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same." ~ D&C 132:3

The principle taught in this scripture clearly shows that we should not take the Lord's answer lightly, no matter what that answer should be.

What would you do if you prayed for further light and knowledge, and a messenger from God arrives to ask you if you are willing to do what it takes?