Turn to the Lord

Mosiah 7:33
“But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.”

It is this scripture, in its teachings, that has given me comfort quite a few times in life.

It is this scripture, applied in my life, that has contributed to, and initiated saving me.

To “turn to the Lord” – am I currently turning away from Him?

Sometimes I've had to distinguish between two different orientations of my soul:

• Times when I am really trying to please Him, but I don't feel like I'm where He wants me to be.

• Times when I have forgotten Him. I have forgotten to pray in and through all things. I have forgotten to “always remember Him” (D&C 20:77,79).

The first one is one He is happy with. We may be likened unto a ship that is trying to turn in the right direction. It takes a ship more than a few seconds to get in the right direction. However, the ship can make an effort to "turn" in the right direction. This is why the scripture above says "turn." He understands that there are times when we are turning back to Him.

Notice that the blessings start coming as we are turning.

“...full purpose of heart...”

Will I have my heart given to God?

I have learned that unworthiness is not a reason to run away from God out of shame or thinking He doesn't want to hear from us.

He wants our hearts in whatever state He is in.

Psalms 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God...” if we think we have to be clean and perfect in heart before turning to God, how can we fulfill this scripture?

We turn to Him SO THAT we can be cleaned by Him. We can hardly clean ourselves of our sins and their eternal consequences.

The Atonement is not just for sinners. It is for those who are still improving. The ultimate goal is to become like Heavenly Father, so even after receiving a forgiveness of sins, we have a lot of work to do. He has a lot of work to do in and with us. He loves us. His Atonement turns us from “bad to good to better” (Elder Bednar).

So, give all of my heart. Not part of it. No matter where I am in life. Give it to God, first through prayer, then through goal setting and planning, then through acting on those plans, and no matter whether the goals are achieved – they are good goals, and we grow through them. Give my heart to God by not giving up.

If I don't feel like keeping a commandment, or if I don't want to keep a commandment, start wanting to keep a commandment. If I can't do that, then start wanting to want to keep a commandment. If that's hard, then take it to the next level, and want to want to want to keep a commandment.

Joking aside, think about that level of want you have, every day. Let it consume your thoughts. It will grow as you feed it attention. Then you feed it some emotion. Then you feed it some attempts to try to keep the commandment. Then you start receiving blessings for receiving it, and that REALLY feeds your desire for obedience. Before you know it, you'll have learned to keep that commandment.

“Put your trust in Him”

How much do you really believe that God is all powerful? He is so unfathomably smart. But just as He knows so much, and is able to do so much, it is all bridled by His love for us. How much do you really believe He loves you, and wants and knows what's best for you?

He sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, who had spiritually bent over backwards and more only so that He could fulfil the Father's Plan, that we might have eternal life, families and happiness as a choice.

I could go on and on about this scripture, like many other scriptures. I will stop myself by jumping to the promise:

“...if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.”