"What if the day of His coming were tomorrow? If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow—through our premature death or through His unexpected coming—what would we do today? What confessions would we make? What practices would we discontinue? What accounts would we settle? What forgivenesses would we extend? What testimonies would we bear?
"If we would do those things then, why not now? Why not seek peace while peace can be obtained? If our lamps of preparation are drawn down, let us start immediately to replenish them.
"We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming. And the preparation most likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult—the spiritual. A 72-hour kit of temporal supplies may prove valuable for earthly challenges, but, as the foolish virgins learned to their sorrow, a 24-hour kit of spiritual preparation is of greater and more enduring value."
- Dallin H. Oaks, "Preparation for the Second Coming", General Conference April 2004
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One way to focus attention on "the things that matter most" is to undertake the exercise Elder Oaks mentions: if I knew my mortal life would be over tomorrow, what would I do today? Would there be things I would want to change, to repair, to focus on, even for a single day? People to forgive, testimonies to bear? And of course, the obvious next question is, "Why not now?" We should be making earnest efforts to focus our energies in the best possible ways, regardless of how much time we have remaining.
The additional warning is that our spiritual preparation needs as much focus as our temporal preparation often receives:
(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2021)
April 9, 2015
April 9, 2015
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