Availability

"Life in the Church soon teaches us that the Lord does not ask us about our ability, but only about our availability. And then, if we demonstrate our dependability, the Lord will increase our capability." --Neal A. Maxwell

I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to do homework on Sundays. I have stuck to that rule. President Michael Benson, formerly the president of Snow College (and grandson of President Ezra Taft Benson), spoke at the Snow College institute building one Friday and encouraged all of the students there to not do any homework on Sundays. I loved that he of all people would say that, as he, being the president of the school, certainly wanted the students there to succeed academically.

I knew that I couldn't serve the Lord if I was busy doing something else.

Jeri Lynn and I decided also a long time ago that we were going to avoid being out of town on Sundays whenever possible. Sometimes we left on a Friday to visit family and returned the day after. As college students, we knew quite a few people who habitually visited their parents' wards on Sundays. They referred to these wards as their "home wards". Me, I knew where my home ward was. It was where my records were. It was where my bishop was. And, most importantly, it was where my callings were.

I knew that there was no way for me to serve the Lord if I wasn't around.

It makes plain sense that the first step in serving the Lord is just being available, but I feel like too often people (including myself if I'm not careful) don't make an effort to ensure that they stay available. The world certainly tries to pull us away, telling us that it's important to do other things. "Hey! School's important! You need to do your homework!" "Yeah, well my major is tough; people in my major have to get homework done on Sundays." Well, what I studied was no piece of cake. Computer Science isn't going to be found on a list of easy college majors. But the closest I came to ever doing homework on a Sunday was when I went to sleep early Sunday night, then got up a few hours later, then worked for hours on a project that was due Monday morning. I didn't even particularly like that because I was cutting into Sunday time by going to bed early. What I do know is that if I had done my homework on Sundays I just wouldn't have been able to do the work of the Lord, regardless of anything else.

What we choose to do with our time is really the only gift we can give our Father in Heaven. Not only should we just be around, but we should actively seek to know the will of God so that we may act according to it. We should make time for the Lord, then find a way to use it well.

Doctrine and Covenants 58:27-29 "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned."

Last thoughts for now:
I often have to decide whether to serve the Lord or serve myself. I know that I must make myself available to God and that some things, though I may like them or feel they are important, aren't deserving of my time or can wait until I have served the Lord. I'm sure this will be an enduring challenge, but I know that as I grow closer to God it becomes more natural. And as I serve God, I become more like Him.