Are We Not All Beggars of the Lord? {12}

From the 19^th chapter of Mathew we learn of a prosperous young man who came to Jesus and inquired, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Jesus’ primary response was… “Keep the commandments” to which the young man asked which one? Jesus reviewed many of the notable commandments to which the young man replied, “All these I have kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” he inquired? Jesus replied, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” But when the young man heard these things, he went away sorrowful, because he had great possessions. He would not hearken to, nor obey the law of God in this matter. Then said Jesus to his disciples,” A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

This young man enjoyed many earthly possessions yet his inability to follow the Lord’s invitation revealed his heart and true loyalty rested more upon his earthy treasures as opposed to demonstrating his willingness to forsake all and follow Christ to obtain heavenly treasures. The Lord might not have expected him to actually sell all his possessions--he may have just been testing his willingness to do so.

The Lord wants to bless His children. “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments,” (D&C 59:2).

Neal A. Maxwell taught us, “Small minds forget large blessings! Proud minds ceaselessly inquire of God, what have you done for me lately?”

Brother Maxwell has further taught, “It is plain that what I seem to have I do not in reality own, and I will hand it back to the Lord when he calls for it; it belongs to him, and it is his all the time. I do not own it, I never did.”

If everything we have been given or will ever be blessed to receive truly belongs to the Lord, how well do we use the gifts and stewardship He has given each of us in blessing those in need regardless of why the need exists?-self inflicted or otherwise without any judgment on our part.

In Mosiah Chapter 4 the humble King Benjamin taught, “For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have? And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, O then how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another. And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition nor repent of the thing which thou hast done. I say, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.”

Honest and sincere humility helps us recognize and remember our daily if not minute by minute dependence upon the Lord. Many years ago, a young, up and coming baseball pitcher signed the largest financial multi-year contract in all of professional sports- at that time- for several million dollars. This amount of compensation was unheard of. When asked by the media and various reporters at a news conference, what he intended to do with all that money, his reply was simple and straight forward. He said, “You do not understand. It’s not my money. It belongs to the Lord, and He will hold me accountable for how I use his resources.”

This unusual response left those at the news conference speechless. This young pitcher had real talent, new found wealth and was on his way to becoming very famous- three ingredients that usually lead to arrogance and pride, but he shocked everyone by not basking in his own glory but rather gave praise to God for His goodness and blessings given and acknowledged the stewardship he had been given-he put the spotlight on the giver of the gifts.

The most selfless and humble servant of God our Heavenly Father is our Savior, Jesus Christ. He had Godly power to perform miracles on many occasions to heal the sick, cure disease, make the blind see, and even raise the dead. His stewardship was to save us and bless others continually without concern for his own needs. He more than any other person who has lived on the earth or who will yet live on earth had every reason to boast but he never ever uttered one proud or selfish syllable.

In the end as the scriptures and the prophets have taught and continue to teach- and as the Lord has shown us and as the sacrament prayers confirm: it will not have been a test of how much stuff did I have or how famous I became but did I serve the Lord by serving others with the stewardship he has given me and did I keep his commandments allowing me to have his spirit to be my guide and be my constant companion? At that moment of truth, there will be no bragging rights; just an individual and very personal confirmation that we were, in fact, beggars unto the Lord. We do depend on Him for every breath we take and every blessing he bestows.