A friend said he was struck by the phrase while he was
reading the Book of Mormon on the treadmill (he has a sweat-stained, dog eared
copy of the Book of Mormon that he reads while he is on the treadmill). The
phrase was “dwindled in unbelief.” He said he thought about that phrase for a
couple of miles. And among other things, he said he thought about some friends
and loved ones who he was afraid were dwindling in unbelief. How does one dwindle
in unbelief? I can’t judge another, but I know in my own case, when I stop
reading the scriptures or when my prayers become mechanical or less frequent or
when I don’t make time to serve that my faith dwindles.
Elder Neil A. Anderson spoke of the fruit of the tree of
life in his most recent (Oct. 2019) Conference talk. He said that the fruit—the
love of God “symbolizes the wondrous blessings of the Savior’s incomparable
Atonement.” Later in his talk he reminded us of the importance of keeping “our
eyes and hearts centered on the Savior Jesus Christ” so that we may be able to
continue to partake of the precious fruit of the tree of life throughout our
lives.
I think most missionaries experience the promptings of the
Spirit and feel the love of God to a greater extent while they are on their
mission. That was certainly the case with me. I felt the Spirit confirm to me
the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. My companions and I were guided by the
Spirit as we sought to find ways to bring souls to Christ. And I felt the
Spirit more strongly as I prayed and as I studied the scriptures. I also felt
God’s love for me, for my companions, and for those we taught and served. I
loved feeling God’s love and His spirit. And when I came home it became quickly
apparent that I would need to continue to read, pray, serve, and strive to keep
my covenants if I wanted to continue to feel the Spirit in my life.
Some time later, as I thought about it, I realized that for
me, the feeling I felt when I felt the Spirit and the feelings I felt when I
felt God’s love were the same. That made sense as I thought of it. Certainly,
God sheds His love upon us when He sends His Spirit and the Spirit is the vehicle
by which His love is manifest to us.
Later I learned from Elder Henry B. Eyring that when we feel
the Spirit, we can know that the Atonement is working in our life.
These things came together as I thought about them this
morning as I walked. I thought of those individuals in Lehi’s dream who tasted
the fruit of the tree of Life, but then became ashamed and fell away. There are
a lot of different ways and reasons by which individuals might step away from
the tree of life. Lehi’s dream mentions some of these things briefly. But more
importantly, we learn from Lehi’s dream that if we hold to the rod and stay on
the covenant path then we can taste the sweet fruit of the tree of life
throughout our lives.
Elder Anderson gave an enlightening talk on this subject a
few years ago in a devotional at BYU. He said that he pictured the iron rod as
a cable—a steel cable with three interwoven strands. Of course, the iron rod
represents the word of God. In his talk he taught that the word of God is found
in the scriptures, in the words of the Lord’s prophets, and in the direction we
personally receive from the Holy Ghost.
I think it is pretty plain here, and elsewhere in the
scriptures that the Lord is teaching us how we can stay true to Him and not dwindle
in unbelief—hold to the rod of iron and stay on the covenant path.
