In the House of the Lord...

An oft-quoted charge of President Brigham Young has been resonating in me of late, made to the weary saints as he led them in a hasty and heartbreaking exodus from Nauvoo. He cried in a loud voice above the congregation, "Let the fire of the covenant which you made in the House of the Lord burn in your bones like flame unquenchable." The covenant he spoke of was the collective covenants of the gospel and specifically obedience to the law of consecration.

I seldom have Saturdays off. Hardly ever, in fact, since I don't work on Sunday. So, having this Saturday off was a big deal and honestly I struggled a little as to whether I would spend the precious weekend day at the "Regional Temple Day". I ultimately decided my Temple worship has been spotty at best of late and that I should attend.

Let me unequivocally state for the record that there is absolutely no better way I could have spent my Saturday. I was refreshed and renewed, I was instructed of the Holy Ghost. I was recommitted to the truth I love, and the religion I profess. I have been considering of late, how much Satan wants to keep us out of the Temple. In retrospect I am convinced that my endowment, not my mission, was the vital turning point in my life. I think of how hard the tempter worked to keep me out of the Temple. If he couldn't have me unworthy, he wanted me unmotivated; if not unmotivated, faithless. There is nothing Satan is so jealous of than his power. We are given so much power over him in the Lord's House that he will do everything he can to dissuade us from receiving our endowment. Once we have received it his only hope is to undermine it's value and priority in our life.

Brigham Young's charge is so important, because it lends the most powerful imagery to testify of the absolute significance of what that covenant should MEAN in our lives. It should never stop burning within us.