Elder Jeffrey R. Holland on living the gospel daily and continuously

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (b. 1940) served as Church Commissioner of Education from 1976-1980, as the president of BYU from 1980-1989, as a Seventy from 1989-1994, and as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles since 1994.

"If we do right and talk right and reach out generously with our words and our deeds, then when the Savior cuts short His work in righteousness, says time is no more in this last, great dispensation and then comes in His glory, He will find us—you and me and all of us—doing our best, trying to live the gospel, trying to improve our lives and our Church and our society the best way we can. When He comes, I so want to be caught living the gospel. I want to be surprised right in the act of spreading the faith and doing something good. I want the Savior to say to me: 'Jeffrey'—because He knows all of our names—'I recognize you not by your title but by your life, the way you are trying to live and the standards you are trying to defend. I see the integrity of your heart. I know you have tried to make things better first and foremost by being better yourself, and then by declaring my word and defending my gospel to others in the most compassionate way you could.'

"'I know you weren't always successful,' He will certainly say, 'with your own sins or the circumstances of others, but I believe you honestly tried. I believe in your heart you truly loved me.'

 "I want to have something like that encounter someday as I want nothing else in this mortal life. And I want it for you. I want it for us all. Israel, Israel, God is calling—calling us to live the gospel of Jesus Christ personally in small ways as well as large, and then to reach out to those who may not look or dress or behave quite like we do, and then (where you can) go beyond that to serve in the widest community you can address."

- Jeffrey R. Holland, "Israel, Israel, God Is Calling," CES devotional delivered at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah, on September 9, 2012. See also Ensign, June 2014, pp. 30-37
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This is a bit of fascinating speculation by Elder Holland. At some point in the near future, the Savior will "cut short His work in righteousness" as the final scenes of this world are played out. When that moment arrives, what will you and I be found doing? Will it be something less than appropriate? Will we be engaged in idleness or selfish purposes?

Elder Holland wants to be found, and hopes we all are found, "living the Gospel" in the best sense, in "the best way we can."

I loved Elder Holland's speculations on what the personal interview at that moment might be like. It's very sincere, personal, honest, and pointed. And the message is clear: we must be ready for the event that might occur at any time!