Editor’s note: This article is an excerpt from Dale G. Renlund’s new book, Learning to Listen: Principles for Personal Revelation.
The sacrament ... gives us an opportunity to draw closer to the Savior. As we strive to increase our faith in Him, the Holy Ghost helps us. We must also act in faith, responding to the spiritual direction we receive. All these elements come together in the sacrament. Indeed, the best way I know of to draw closer to God is to prepare conscientiously and partake worthily of the sacrament each week.
As we keep the Holy Ghost as a companion through repenting and renewing our covenants during the sacrament, our spiritual foundation is strengthened. Only with a robust spiritual foundation can we handle the metaphorical rain, wind, and floods that confront us in our lives (see 3 Nephi 18:12–13). Only with a robust spiritual foundation can we handle even the “sunshine” in our lives. Brigham Young said, “The worst fear that I have about [members of this Church] is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth.”1 Whether enduring bad weather or good, our spiritual foundation is weakened when we voluntarily skip sacrament meeting or when we are distracted from the Savior during the sacrament. We may unintentionally “withdraw [ourselves] from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in [us] to guide [us] in wisdom’s paths that [we] may be blessed, prospered, and preserved” (Mosiah 2:36).
The Savior identified the sacrament as indispensable to a spiritual foundation. He said: “And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things [that is, partake of the sacrament]. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock. But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall” (3 Nephi 18:12–13).
Jesus did not say “if rain descends, if floods come, and if winds blow” but “when.” No one is immune from life’s challenges; we all need the safety that comes from partaking of the sacrament.
On the day of the Savior’s Resurrection, two disciples traveled to a village called Emmaus. Unrecognized, the risen Lord joined them on the journey. As they traveled, He taught them from the scriptures. When they reached their destination, they invited Him to dine with them.
“And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
“And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
“And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
“And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven [Apostles] gathered together.”
And then they testified to the Apostles that “the Lord is risen indeed. ...
“And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread” (Luke 24:30–35; see also verses 13–29).
The sacrament helped these men recognize the Savior. It will help us know our Savior, too.
No matter where you stand in your relationship to God, I invite you to draw nearer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the Ultimate Benefactors and Givers of all that is good. I invite you to attend sacrament meeting each week and partake of the holy emblems of the Savior’s body and blood. I invite you to feel God’s nearness as He is made known to you, as He was to the disciples of old, in the “breaking of [the] bread.”
As you do, you will feel nearer to God. As we conscientiously partake of the sacrament, we invite the Holy Ghost into our lives. And as the Holy Ghost exerts a greater influence in our lives, we progressively and iteratively develop Christlike attributes. Our hearts change. Our disposition to do evil diminishes. Our inclination to do good increases until we only want “to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). And we thereby access the heavenly power needed to endure to the end.2 Our faith has increased, and we are ready to repeat the powerful, virtuous cycle again.
Natural tendencies like childish whining, disgruntled entitlement, and derisive skepticism will dissipate. Those sentiments will be replaced by feelings of greater love and gratitude for Heavenly Father’s gift of His Son. As we draw closer to God, the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ will come into our lives. And, as with the disciples on the way to Emmaus, we will find that the Savior has been nearby all along.
If we approach the sacrament with a broken heart and contrite spirit, the way we expect a new convert to approach baptism, God renews the blessings of baptism for us, including the cleansing effect.3 That cleansing effect helps us be worthy of having the Holy Ghost with us.
Recognize how revelation works
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▶ A seminary teacher’s secret to helping your family love scripture study
▶ Sheri Dew’s perspective on incremental growth is deeply encouraging
Notes
1. In Preston Nibley, Brigham Young: The Man and His Work (1936), 128.
2. See, for instance, 2 Nephi 31:2–21; 3 Nephi 11:23–31; 27:13–21; Moroni 4:3; 5:2; 6:6; Doctrine and Covenants 20:77, 79; 59:8–9.
3. According to Handbook 2: Administering the Church–2010, 2.1.2, “Church members are commanded to gather together often to partake of the sacrament to remember the Savior always and to renew the covenants and blessings of baptism” (emphasis added). See also Dallin H. Oaks, “The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament,” Ensign, November 1998.