Ready to replace

As new commandments come, they don’t always address new topics. Often, new commandments will expand and elaborate on previous commandments, and sometimes they will even contradict former commandments. This shouldn’t be so shocking. The fact is that God begins to reveal himself to us at very low resolutions because that is all we are able to bear.¹ We should not be any more surprised at abrupt shifts in what he is revealing than we are when a very blurry picture looks different as it is brought into crisp focus.

Are you ready and willing to replace the good things in your life with something better? If not, you will find yourself rejecting or abandoning the paths to the great things God has prepared for you.

Consider the experience of the young man who reverently sought out Jesus for more instruction, only to reject what he was told:

17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! (Mark 10)

There are several things to note about this experience. First, this man was not superficial in his devotion to Jesus. He ran towards him, and he knelt down before him. He was no slouch—he truly had obeyed God in all ways of which he knew to that point, something few can say. And, he bravely asked what else he could do. However, when Jesus “loved him” by telling him the next increment of truth, the man not only went away, but he did so sorrowfully. He did not appreciate the instruction, and he did not obey it.

Past faithfulness is no indication of future faithfulness. Beware of the limits of your faith, and always prepare your heart to trust God, even and especially if he commands you to do things you thought he never would.

Truth is a wedge. When additional light comes, it reveals contradictory aspects of a person’s understanding. Good people love to have their faults exposed, because they want to be better. Evil people hate to have their faults exposed, because they want to feel good as they are:

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3)

You must choose which newly resolved portion of yourself to embrace and which to eject. You cannot keep both. A person is like an astronaut floating in space. When an astronaut throws something, the object flies away from them like it would on earth, but unlike on earth, they will also move in the opposite direction.

Reactions to new commandments generate shockingly extreme transformations in people. When exposed to great light, seemingly normal people can become really good people or really bad people. It is shocking how exposure to further light can reveal things about people you never would have imagined.

When people obey difficult new commandments, they grow towards God in a dramatic manner, because his word sanctifies them, making them holier than they were. Jesus prayed: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17)

When people turn away from new commandments, they undergo a shockingly extreme transformation toward evil. A person who you thought loved you can become so full of hate that they wish you harm with every fiber of their being. As hard to believe as this may be, consider that the Savior of the world was betrayed to death by one of his twelve closest friends, after having been actively persuaded by his unbelieving brothers to do what they expected would lead to the Jews killing him,² thus ending a mission where his purpose was to give 19 everything he had for those who ignored, diminished, fought, hated, and killed him.

Be vigilant in receiving and obeying all of God’s commandments so that you don’t blind yourself:

27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!
28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.
29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!
30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. (2 Nephi 28)

When you turn away from God’s commandments, you deliver yourself into the hands of Satan, and you will be more capable of horrific harm to others.