"Joshua didn’t say choose you next year whom you will serve; he spoke of 'this day,' while there is still daylight and before the darkness becomes more and more normal. (See Josh. 24:15.)
"When Jesus called his first disciples, the scriptures record that they left their ships and nets 'straightway.' They didn’t ask to join Jesus after the fishing season; they didn’t even delay their response in order to make just one more catch. They left 'straightway'! (See Matt. 4:20.)
"Act, my brothers and sisters, for once the soul is tilted toward belief, and once there is even a desire to believe, then marvelous things begin to happen! Once one leaves the porch and comes inside the Church, then one not only hears the music more clearly—he becomes a part of it.
"Act now, so that a thousand years from now, when you look back at this moment, you can say this was a moment that mattered—this was a day of determination."
- Neal A. Maxwell, "Why Not Now?", General Conference October 1974
Click here to read or listen to the full talk
We are constantly making choices and setting priorities in our lives. Many of those choices are built on a foundation of the one choice that matters most: whom will we follow? Elder Maxwell encourages us to choose promptly and wisely, like Joshua of old, to "choose you this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Delaying that crucial commitment in any way slows our progress and limits our potential.
It's those "marvelous things" that happen when our soul is committed to God that we should cherish and look forward to! How eager we should be to "straightway" follow Him.
(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2018)
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