20 – Are We Still on The Covenant Path?featured

How do you feel when you hear President Nelson, or others, talk of the Covenant Path?

Does it inspire you to feel you are a part of something important, or do you feel like an outsider? Does that phrase make you feel included, or like you are ironically on the other side of a ditch, some distance across a field, and being pointed at and judged by people clinging to an iron rod?

If you feel that way, I can understand, but you must not let yourself think that is how President Nelson meant for you and me to feel. He says it as an invitation. If others in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are shunning you, they are living contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ. But don’t judge them in return. In reality, it’s most likely that others are not judging you or me at all, it’s just that the silence gives Satan the chance to try and make us feel they are.

ARE YOU ON THE COVENANT PATH?

You and I hear the term “Covenant Path” and wonder where that leaves us. Are we still on it? We know where we stand with the Church. That is written clearly in the letter we received after the membership council. We know where we stand with those who have cancelled us. We know where we stand with those who step up and show us unconditional love. But where do we stand with Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ?

President Nelson has stated that “The covenant path is all about our relationship with God—our hessed relationship with Him.” He defined hessed as “a unique term describing a covenant relationship in which both parties are bound to be loyal and faithful to each other.”

President Nelson, in the same article, stated “Because God has hessed for those who have covenanted with Him, He will love them. He will continue to work with them and offer them opportunities to change. He will forgive them when they repent. And should they stray, He will help them find their way back to Him.”  – The Everlasting Covenant Liahona Oct 2022

Hey, that is you and me! We covenanted with Him! We will be forgiven when we repent! When we stray, God will help us find our way back to Him! 

President Nelson has stated that baptism is the start of the Covenant Path. Nephi called baptism “the gate” in 2 Nephi 31:17. But if the Covenant Path President Nelson refers to is specifically relating to covenants made via Priesthood ordinances, what path will get us to the gate?  

THE PATH THAT LEADS TO THE GATE THAT OPENS UP TO THE PATH

I grew up in a farming and ranching community. My friends and I would spend Saturdays exploring the areas through the trees and around the river. In the winter we would go sledding in the pastures. Inevitably we would come across trails the cattle had made from years of wandering around the pasture. These paths wind all over. Some have been there seemingly forever. Maybe every few years there is a cow that decides to make a new path. Some paths lead through the trees to the water. I imagine that at different times of the year, there will be plants growing in different areas of the field, and they will always find the food. As much as paths are randomly found throughout the pasture, they all ultimately connect back to the rancher’s gate.

You and I are out in the field. Some of us are there because of repetitive bad habits, and some because of one bad decision. Some of us have wandered quite far from the gate while others can still see it nearby. Some of us have been out here for a long time, and others not so much. But here we are.

TRY WALKING THAT WAY FOR AN EXPERIMENT

What if we look at those old cow trails as similar to our own journey right now? Instead of seeing them as distinctly different paths, we can, instead, focus on how these trails can still get us to our desired destination as we follow them and learn from the journey.  They tend to wind around and make you wonder why they are going in various directions on the way to the gate. That’s ok. In reality, every one of us will have our own paths to follow on our way back to the gate. And very few of them, if any, are actually direct and head straight to the destination. 

From time to time, you may have an experience that reminds you of past spiritual feelings. Maybe it was something or someone you saw. Maybe it was a song you heard. Maybe it was a random memory that just popped into your head. Let’s think of that experience as coming across an old trail in the middle of the tall grass and weeds in the fields. Why not step onto the path and try following it for a little bit to see what happens?

Try praying again. Spend a little time remembering past personal spiritual experiences you have had. Go walk around a temple if you have one close to you. Treat others a little more kindly than you already do. Donate time or money to a cause you find worthy – you have the 10% you used to donate to tithing. If you have not been going to Church, try it out again. If you are going, try to elevate your worship – especially while the Sacrament is blessed and passed.

On our individual path, we will find new insights into the love God has for us – if we are looking for it. We will have some experiences that are comfortable and others that will tempt us to give up on the gate and just head for the river. I strongly suggest journaling your thoughts and feelings – at least while you are trying out the path you have found.  And, in the process, see where you find God in the details.

How do you feel God might “offer opportunities to change” for you in your life? God will not do the work for us. And it is not about just passing time and voila you have repented. You must not be like the Young Single Adult who decides to not confess serious sexual sin with their fiance’ before their temple sealing, with a plan to wait for “enough” time to pass so they are forgiven. That is not repentance. That will not bring them peace and will most likely lead them further away before they get closer to God. It will not be repentance for them until they actually repent. 

CAN YOU RECOGNIZE THE SIGNS OF GOD’S HELP?

What if He gave you a Christlike friend? Do you already have one? If you don’t have one now, work on finding one – or two. Go to church. Get involved in any opportunity you can to serve others, you may find a friend that way. If you feel some individuals in the Church don’t want to walk with you back to Heavenly Fathers’ side, keep looking. Jesus will be with you as you sincerely seek Him. I have found that Heavenly Father will send help, but it may come through people we least expect. Be open to new friendships, especially if it is someone following a prompting – or even an assignment – to reach out to you. It can be a huge blessing to have a friend encouraging you along the path.

The best friend you can have is Jesus Christ Himself! Work on that relationship at the same time! You will find Him through the actions of those who are Christlike. It’s fascinating to discover what Jesus is like by realizing His characteristics in others – and it will greatly increase your admiration for those in your circle who have His attributes!

I have found that getting into the scriptures is a big help. Especially the four Gospels and the 3rd Nephi chapters that cover the Savior’s visit to the Americas. Are you doing the Come Follow Me study? Don’t do it because you feel pressured to – do it to get to know Jesus better. Would it help if you supplemented your readings with podcasts that help explain some of the details? There are so many podcasts available now that can help your relationship with God. Keep trying them until you find one that fits for you.

One thing that has helped for me has been seeking out and immersing myself in uplifting media. I have loved watching the series “The Chosen” by Angel Studios. I love the Spirit I feel while watching that show. I feel drawn to the way that show depicts Christlike attributes. 

A man I love and respect loves to say “The most wear on the Covenant Path is on the edges, but it’s more comfortable in the middle”. One of the benefits of walking those old cow trails is that we got fewer burrs in our socks by staying out of the tall grass. At the end of the day, the winding path took a little longer to get home, but the more we stayed in the middle of that path, the fewer irritations we had on our ankles.

There is peace in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You focus on staying as centered as possible and you will see God’s hand helping you help yourself. You will also find the strength to keep going through the hard parts.

If we are no longer considered baptized, has the Lord forsaken us? NO! The Lord will never forsake us. He will never give up on us. Whether we have lost our membership as a result of a disciplinary council or chosen ourselves to have our name removed from the records of the Church – Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are still willing to bless us – especially as we are willing to turn to them for help. 

NOT ALL PATHS ARE THE SAME

It seems that we all walk different paths in life as we find our way home to our Heavenly Parents. We will all deal with our own variety of trials and challenges. Whether or not our problems are visible to others, we all have trials. One Relief Society President I worked with once confided to me that people would tell her they wished they had her life. To others it looked as though life was easy for her. All the while she was carrying a major trial that they did not know of. It is that way for most of us.

 Some of us end up outside the Church for a time as part of our path. That does not mean that our trail does not still lead to the Gate.  In fact, if we allow ourselves to learn and grow from the twists and turns of our unique path, we will arrive at the Gate with much more to offer on the other side. The fact that our path was outside of the Church for a while matters far less to the Lord than the direction we are facing and the fact that we keep moving. The paths we each walk equip us to help a broader variety of people. We become part of the “Fellowship of the Forgiven”(Blog 7). Those people are incredibly valuable to the Lord’s work in quiet but impactful ways. He still has every blessing one could ever hope for available to them – to us.

So my friend, as you find your way through the pasture of life and come across a path that looks and feels like it just may have something for you, I encourage you to take a few steps along it. Focus on your relationship with God through Jesus Christ. See where it takes you.

If your trail leads you back to the waters of baptism and on to the blessings of the Temple, then that old path right there in front of you is the beginning of your covenant path.