Line upon line

In my last post I explored what the Savior may have meant when He taught the Samaritan woman about living water that could be in her a “well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:10, 14). I concluded that it meant coming unto Christ, feeling His love, and developing a testimony and being converted by and through the power of His matchless Atonement.

I am grateful when heaven teaches me “line upon line.” Last Sunday was our Ward Conference and the Bishop in his talk referred to a BYU Devotional he had listened to on the BYU Podcast app that interested me so I downloaded it to my phone and listened to it as I traveled earlier this week. The talk was Lost and Found by Mark Alden Callister (Oct. 7, 2014). It’s a great talk that explores the question of why it is important to serve out of charity. I will not try to summarize his thoughts but will just share this excerpt from his comments.

“I have learned that as we strive to follow the Savior and as we fervently pray for charity, our service undergoes a remarkable change. We begin to feel His love more keenly for those we serve, and we feel His love for us as we serve. The outcome can be marvelous. When our Heavenly Father bestows His love upon us, it is not meant to simply pool within us. As it flows through us to others in Christlike service, we are transformed. Like a river flowing over rough stones that with time become smooth, polished, and beautiful, as His pure love flows through us, it transforms our nature and blesses those we serve.”

I was intrigued by this idea, that God’s love was “not meant to simply pool within us,” but should flow through us in Christlike service to others. What an interesting concept. Several things have come together for me this week as I have thought about this idea—that God’s love should flow through me to bless other’s lives.

One time Elder Ballard compared the cardinal virtues of faith, hope, and charity to the legs of a three-legged stool. He taught that they were interconnected and that each was essential. Alma taught the Zoramites (Alma 32-33) about planting the word of Christ in their hearts and told them it would change them. In the next chapter (Alma 34) Amulek taught them about exercising faith unto repentance and that a beginning step was to cry unto the Lord in all their circumstances (for mercy, for their families, for their enterprises-flocks, herds, crops, etc., and for the welfare of those who were around them). Certainly they would feel the love of God as they pursued these steps of coming unto Christ. But then Amulek told them if that was all they did it wouldn’t be enough. They must also reach out to others in service—they must remember to be charitable (see Alma 34:28).

Here are some other things I thought about this week.

Lehi partook of the fruit of the tree of life (he tasted of the love of God) then immediately turned his attention to his family so he could share the fruit with them.

Mormon ended his discourse on faith and hope by teaching that even if a person had faith and hope, if they did not have charity they were “nothing” (Moroni 7:44). And he taught how we could be given this pure love of Christ—we must “pray unto the Father with all the energy of [our] heart” then the Father would “bestow” this love upon us. Then we would become like the Savior.

I listened to another BYU devotional talk this week by Sheri Patten Palmer titled “Convenient Service.” In her talk she talked about how opportunities to serve are often “inconvenient.” She said, by contrast, for the Savior opportunities to bless lives were always "convenient" for Him. That is an attitude we could seek to emulate. Her talk reminded me of how hard it was, as a young father, to drag myself out of bed in the middle of the night to help our children when they were little. I don’t remember praying for an attitude change but I knew I wanted to get to the point where such calls to serve did not annoy me. It’s a work in progress.

Sister Palmer shared the following: “President Thomas S. Monson taught Brigham Young University students that their student days should include ‘the matter of spiritual preparation,’ including service to others:

An attitude of love characterized the mission of the Master. He gave sight to the blind, legs to the lame, and life to the dead. Perhaps when we [face] our Maker, we will not be asked, ‘How many positions did you hold?’ but rather, ‘How many people did you help?’ In reality, you can never love the Lord until you serve Him by serving His people.” [“Great Expectations,” BYU devotional address, 11 January 2009]

I have been taught (and have taught) about service my whole life. And I have served and have at times felt God’s love while doing so. A couple of years ago our ward was asked to join other Latter-day Saints to go to the Rockaways to help them dig out of the destruction left from hurricane Sandy. I was asked by the Bishop to be a team leader. Later in the day, when we were done, I was walking back to the buses with a young man from our ward. He asked, “Why do I feel so good?” I don’t remember my response, but of course he was feeling God’s love because he had been serving His children.

President Kimball once told of a monk who in his monastery sought with all his heart to get closer to God. He prayed. He fasted. He read the scriptures all day. And he was lifted but he knew there was something missing. He even tried praying up in a tower, perhaps to be closer to God. Then one day in frustration, in the tower he lifted his hands toward heaven and cried out “Oh God where art thou?” He heard a soft, quiet voice. It said, “I’m down here among the people.”

This then is an important piece in the puzzle of trying to understand how the Savior's love can be a living spring of water in me. The key is for His love to flow through me to others. As Brother Callister said, this love from God was not meant to pool within us, it was meant to flow through us to others.

This changes the way I think about the purpose of my life. It changes my prayers. It changes the way I serve. Actually I’m not completely sure all that it means, but I am glad to be taught line upon line. I hope I can learn better how to serve others and help them feel the Father’s love.