Come Follow Me: “Be Perfectly Joined Together”

Mastery of Gospel Principles can allow us to piece together a beautiful concerto.

Recently I began learning how to play the organ. Having played the piano for over 20 years I thought it would be an easy transition – I was wrong. Every chord played on the organ involves multiple factors and requires complex coordination of fingers, hands, and feet. With so many variables to account for, things can go wrong very quickly.

In order to overcome the possible pitfalls, my teacher requires me to slow down to a snail’s pace. Each chord played may take 5-10 seconds to set up, and we only focus on two measures of music, playing them 50 or more times per lesson! It is a tedious process and sometimes all I want to do is break free of the monotony and take off into a full fledged song. My current capacity and skill would make any such attempt foolish, and would quickly result in a mess of discordant tones.

With this process in mind, it is interesting to consider the following observation from Paul:

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

1 Corinthians 3:1-3

In our practice of the gospel, many of us face periods when we tire of the simple daily actions that discipleship requires of us. We long for something new or exciting. We desire to know of the glorious truths our Heavenly Father has in store for us. I think our Heavenly Father is just as desirous to share these truths with us; however, in His wisdom, He reveals them to us, “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little” (2 Nephi 28:30). He patiently waits to move forward until we are able to master the concepts He has already revealed because if He were to reveal things to us before we were ready, the result could be catastrophic to our progression.

Learning to become like our Heavenly Father is the product of a lifetime of faithful and consistent application of gospel precepts and doctrines. Each action builds on the others, just like the notes in a chord, and prepares us for the greater responsibilities and knowledge our Father wishes to give us. As we patiently apply the teachings He has already given us, we will be prepared to accept and apply the beautiful truths that God has yet to reveal. Then one day, our halting and discordant tones will be transformed into a confident and beautiful masterpiece of discipleship.

Supplemental Reading:

Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2019, August 19-25.

Feed My Sheep” – Elder Boyd K. Packer, April 1984

Foundations of Faith” – Elder Quentin L. Cook, April 2017

You can follow Jess on Twitter @Jessla_G.

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