Discipleship: Following in the Savior's Footsteps

As a young teenager I use to hate driving any where with my mother. The reason? She followed the rules of the road to a “T” and this annoyed me. As I sat and watched everyone pass us by I’d tell her that we needed to go faster. She would point to her speedometer (usually about 5 miles under the speed limit) and begin quoting the Twelfth Article of Faith to me.

“We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law”.

It was very frustrating to me for two reasons. First, she was quoting scripture to me. Second, because she was right. I wanted nothing more than to fit in and she wanted nothing more than to obey God and that included obeying the laws of the land as well.

It’s really very small and simple, but how many of us are actually thinking about being a disciple of Christ when we are late for an appointment? Often we think of the large and dramatic things we give up of ourselves as we work to become His disciples. There are also some very small things that many of us overlook either because they don’t stand out in the crowd or because they don’t fit with the daily care of the world we so often get caught up in. Still, learning to be obedient in little things makes it easier to be obedient in larger things.

I was thinking of this while I sat in Sacrament meeting yesterday. I was pondering how my life was conforming to Christ’s example and what I needed to improve when my eyes landed on the hymnal in front of me. It was resting in the wooden pocket designed for it on the back of the pew in front of me. The problem was it was sitting in the pocket the wrong way. It was a very little thing that I hadn’t even thought of when I’d deposited the book there. I wasn’t thinking, I was following a previously established habit. But when I had a moment to think of ways I could improve my obedience for the coming week, I suddenly remembered. I remembered the bishop had recently asked us to place our hymnals on their spine to preserve them for a little longer. Doing this would reduce the pulling and stress on the cover and spine and keep it from tearing when we needed many more years of use from them. I had completely forgotten to obey a very small and simple request from one of the Lord’s servants.

My resolve for that Sacrament meeting was to notice more of the little things I can be more obedient in. It’s the way of the disciple.

We talk so often about the sweet blessings of discipleship it sometimes seems easy to ignore the cost. In fact depending on how you look at it, the cost of not following the Savior is much higher than that of becoming a disciple. While this is true, it doesn’t mean discipleship is an easy path. It only means that the end result is definitely worth the cost. Often, this cost is more immediate and greater than many feel willing to pay. Even among His disciples, there will be many who try to “short-change” the Savior, never realizing that they’re only cheating themselves not Him.

What does the disciple pay for the Savior’s promised blessings? I think it’s different for each of us and some may actually think the price is negotiable. Different it may be, but the information on the price tag asks the same thing of everyone. He asks for our all. He asks us to turn over all that we are so that He can mold those things into something much more beautiful than any value we might have placed on the original price.

In the words of James E. Faust:

“Our true claim as disciples comes when we can say with certainty that His ways have become our ways.” James E. Faust, “Discipleship,” Ensign, Nov 2006, 20–23

Part of our purpose in life is to be tried and tested. Not just in a few things, but in all things that are necessary for our eternal salvation. He, and we, need to know the measure of our faith and patience for the things of the Lord. He tests not only our faith in the moment, but also over time. Can we still say, “Thy will be done” when that answer is not forthcoming on our own timetable?

The goal of the disciple is to become as close to Christ’s perfect example as our imperfect lives will allow. Following the Savior’s example requires us to embrace the mission of our own lives, overcome the world and finish the work we have been given to do. Even as Christ did, we need to learn to let our will be “swallowed up in the will of the Father”. We need to learn to embrace the process of change and refinement. While we have been granted the wonderful gift of agency, the best gift we can give back to the Lord in gratitude is the will of our hearts. We can offer that agency back to the Lord with humble sincerity in order to find out what choices He would have us make. That is the time we will truly find out about His love and our own divine potential. The more we are willing to “give up” of ourselves, the more room there is for the Savior in our lives.

“The more we know of Jesus, the more we will love Him. The more we know of Jesus, the more we will trust Him. The more we know of Jesus, the more we will want to be like Him and to be with Him by becoming the manner of men and women that He wishes us to be (see 3 Ne. 27:27), while living now “after the manner of happiness” (2 Ne. 5:27). Neal A. Maxwell, “‘Plow in Hope’,” Ensign, May 2001, 59

Walking as a disciple of Christ is a lifelong journey and because the journey can be rough there will be those who will chose to leave His path. Fortunately, whether we turn away completely, or simply stumble on the path, the Savior’s atonement is always there as a way back. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we can live for and with Him. Discipleship requires a full commitment to the Lord’s way, where ever it may take us, for the duration of our lives. This is the price we pay for His welcoming arms and words of comfort, love and pride at that end of life. That is the price we pay for His guiding and steadying hand every day until then. It’s definitely worth the price.

When Christ was preparing to leave His disciples for the final time, He promised them a special gift. This gift, the Holy Ghost, was described by Christ as a Comforter, as foundation of peace, a Teacher, a source of truth and a Testifier, a way for Christ to be with His disciples even when He was removed from their physical presence. It was, in my opinion, the most beautiful gift He could give them.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. . .
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:16-27

The Holy Ghost’s role within the Godhead is to offer a direct connection with our spirits. Our spirits remember and rejoice in truths and recognize our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The spirit within us that remembers and recognizes these things is the very center and core of who we are. We are literal children of a loving Heavenly Father who sent the purest of His children as a Savior for all of us. When our spirit recognizes this, it changes who we are, it awakens our true nature and potential for goodness, it allows us to be disciples of Jesus Christ.

When Christ promised this gift to those who would follow Him, He was promising to keep that line of contact and communication open to us. He was promising that as long as we were living His commandments, we would have access to His loving guidance through the Holy Ghost. The faith we gain because of our connection with the Holy Ghost allows us to take His love into our hearts and trust in it. We can not cast our every care upon someone who we don’t intimately know and trust to comfort and bless us with what we need most. We can not trust in an atoning sacrifice that can relieve us our all our imperfections if we do not know we are loved to such an extent. We can not heed or follow His voice if we do not know what those tender whisperings feel like.

Keep the commandments and live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. He is the best friend and companion that Christ can offer His disciples when we need to feel His love and guidance.

Do you remember the story of Jacob’s ladder?

11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Genesis 28:11-12

Aside from the sleeping on a rock, there is a small message for me hidden in Jacob’s dream. Overall, the Lord’s message is of covenants and promises, but for me there is also an understanding of who I am as a person. Like Jacob, I’ve made covenants with the Lord that will lead me on a path toward heaven. It’s not always the easiest thing to do, the world can be a very hard place and I can be very weak willed at some moments. My human nature makes me imperfect, but the Lord promises me that as long as I stay on the ladder, I’m still headed toward Him. It’s something within my reach, within my capabilities, and it’s personal. It’s a progression and a promise.

The great promise to me is that what Jacob saw was a ladder, not a giant leap, not a rocket, a one-way sign. It was a ladder with angels ascending and descending, each on their own path. No matter where they were, headed up or down, they were all angels. They were all disciples of Jesus Christ doing His will and serving God. I am one of those angels, one of those disciples. Where I belong on that ladder is up to me and my Heavenly Father http://www.mormonwiki.com/Heavenly_Father , where my neighbor belongs is their personal journey. We all have a place, sometimes we’re up, sometimes we’re down. The important part is that we’re still holding on.

“An old proverb states that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Sometimes we make the process more complicated than we need to. We will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. We make the journey by taking each day step by step and then repeating it again and again until we reach our destination.
The same principle applies to how you and I can climb to higher spirituality.
Our Heavenly Father knows that we must begin our climb from where we are. ‘When you climb up a ladder,’ the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, ‘you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them.’
Our Heavenly Father loves each one of us and understands that this process of climbing higher takes preparation, time, and commitment. He understands that we will make mistakes at times, that we will stumble, that we will become discouraged and perhaps even wish to give up and say to ourselves it is not worth the struggle.
We know it is worth the effort, for the prize, which is eternal life, is “the greatest of all the gifts of God.” D&C 14:7
And to qualify, we must take one step after another and keep going to gain the spiritual heights we aspire to reach.
An eternal principle is revealed in holy writ: “It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize.” Mosiah 4:27
We don’t have to be fast; we simply have to be steady and move in the right direction. We have to do the best we can, one step after another.”
Joseph B. Wirthlin, “One Step after Another,” Liahona, Jan 2002, 27–30

When God made covenants with Jacob in that dream, He gave Jacob everything he needed to succeed in His promises. God showed him the ladder, the path and the purpose, then gave him the promises of eternity. He does the same for each of us as we dedicate our lives to Him and make our own covenants. I love the promise this covenant contains.

15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Genesis 28:15

Jacob’s ladder gives me hope because it shows me everyone’s path is not the same. It shows me that we each have a purpose to serve as disciples of Jesus Christ. It shows me that as long as I hang on to the ladder and keep asking the Lord to guide my path, up or down, He’ll be with me.

I ran across a beautiful set of scriptures the other day as I was celebrating the return of spring. They’re found in John 15.

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 15:1-11

It goes on with more great counsel and blessings, but I’d like to focus on just these verses for a moment.

I like the imagery of the vine and the fruit. I wonder how much nourishment I’m taking from my Master to bear sweet fruit. He gives us a wealth of council and knowledge which, if heeded will make us something more wonderful than we could ever imagine for ourselves. The less we heed that same counsel and knowledge, the more we shrivel and die on the vine. We can also become weakened and experience insults from outside of the vine. Again, the choice is ours as to whethe r or not we will treat these problems, or let them destroy us and cut us off from the vine. There will be times in our lives when we will find ourselves without so much fruit; times when the Master prunes and picks to allow us to become stronger and experience further growth. We decide how we will respond to these trials, as well.

Note that in all these cases the vine is still there at this point. It is the fruit and the branch that has changed. Eventually, that connection will change. Eventually, the Master will remove the dead fruit and the bare branches, so that those which are still growing can do so unimpeded. That is yet to come. Right now each of us is still on the vine with a choice to make. That choice concerns exactly how much of our Savior’s love we are willing to let into our lives and how much of the world we will keep out.

Let’s talk about the figurative worms and pestilence that can attack us in the world. These can and should be treated. Even when under attack the fruit can still be saved. Especially with the Master as the vine, each of us can be restored no matter how hopeless the situation seems. The choice is still ours; we decide if we can and want to be healed. He reaches out to honor our wishes and love us as much as we will let Him.

Consider the advice of James E. Faust.

“I believe that all of [you] want to be happy and find the peace that the Savior promised. I think many of you try very hard to keep up with all of your responsibilities. I do not wish to offend anyone. I am reluctant to mention a matter but feel it should be said. Sometimes we carry unhappy feelings about past hurts too long. We spend too much energy dwelling on things that have passed and cannot be changed. We struggle to close the door and let go of the hurt. If, after time, we can forgive whatever may have caused the hurt, we will tap “into a life-giving source of comfort” through the Atonement, and the “sweet peace” of forgiveness will be ours. Some injuries are so hurtful and deep that healing comes only with help from a higher power and hope for perfect justice and restitution in the next life. [You] can tap into that higher power and receive precious comfort and sweet peace.”
James E. Faust, “Instruments in the Hands of God,” Ensign, Nov 2005, 114

The Savior’s plea to each of us in these verses is to “Abide in me, and I in you.” He asks us for permission to enter our hearts and lives. He asks that we let Him love us. If we do that, we are called His disciples and our lives are filled with sweetness and peace. How do we invite Him in? How do we receive His greatest blessings? How do we feel His love? The answer is also given, “keep my commandments” and you will have joy. By simply using Christ as our example and living God’s laws, we can be filled with His love. He nourishes us and blesses us. He abides in us when we are trying to abide in Him.

“For the fruit of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly attached to Him, the Savior of us all, and to this His Church, which bears His holy name. He is the vine that is our true source of strength and the only source of eternal life. In Him we not only will endure but also will prevail and triumph in this holy cause that will never fail us. May we never fail it nor fail Him . . . ” Jeffrey R. Holland, “‘Abide in Me’,” Liahona, May 2004, 30–32