New Church Life July/Aug 2013 | Page 60

Filling After Jehovah The Commitment Required to Follow the Lord Scout Sunday Family Talk by the Rev. Ryan M. Sandstrom W elcome to our special Scout Sunday service. As I look around I can tell we have quite a few Scouts with us today, both young and old. Let’s have all Scouts stand for a moment. These are people who have served society or their community in some way. Now let’s look at one of these Scouts up close. He’s a picture of someone who has accomplished a lot; you can tell just by looking at his uniform. We see badges, pins, seals and emblems. There are many stories here. Each thing on the uniform stands for something this Scout has completed. So if you look at any Scout, you can tell what he has accomplished just by looking at his uniform. There are many things we all have that help us accomplish things, or to do well. One of the greatest things we can use is something called commitment. Commitment is basically a pledge or promise that you will do something because of what you believe. So if you say you will do something, you had better do it. I couldn’t really say I’m going to do the dishes and then only clean half of the plate. It wouldn’t look good to see a bunch of half-cleaned dishes; it’s just not done. So the idea is that if you are going to commit to something, you either commit to it all the way, or not at all. There are many great lessons in the Word about commitment. I will read a story about committing to the Lord. In fact, the title of this talk is “Filling after Jehovah.” This is a term used in the Word to “commit to fully” or “wholly follow.” It’s a more direct translation of the original Hebrew word, which according to the Heavenly Doctrine, has a meaning that is loaded with commitment. [Arcana Coelestia 10076, which in the Elliott translation includes this footnote: This Hebrew phrase is thought to suggest more than the words themselves actually express, i.e. it is a pregnant phrase for “to go after with full commitment.”] 388