To heal. To help. To persuade. To reveal the future in such clarity in all it’s brightness so as to gain the confidence of your friends and lead them along to it in the bravery if sacrifice. To show them self-care in the midst of care of others. To initiate them in all things in the character of Christ and show them how to so put upon themselves.
Everything in the kingdom of God is voluntary. We chose to live there, to serve there, to be served there, to play these, to take naps there, generally speaking to live there. The kingdom of God isn’t just about serving others, it’s about living. Yes, we serve others, but it’s a choice.
Naturally you can’t live there if you never serve anyone, but it’s about the lifestyle altogether. They know how to party harder than anyone. They play much more enjoyable games. They soar the skies, the glide across the galaxies, they whisk through the clouds and skim the waters.
You might say its a wise economic decision if you like to use those terms. We give, but we get back even more. It’s a worthwhile giving. We are rewarded so much that we don’t even realize we are giving. We bask in the warmth of the love of Jesus Christ. We build things without paying taxes on them, without looters taking them from us.
We serve in the kingdom of God only when we are persuaded to. We are asked to do nothing until we have been given sufficient incentive. Priesthood works only by voluntary exchange. Forced charity is the definition of evil. Of course, there cannot be forced charity. That is slavery. Charity us something that flows naturally from the wells of our hearts. We find the joy of service, and we remember that we are pleasing the person who gave so much to us, more than we even comprehend, Jesus Christ. And His Father gave Him everything. And Fathers Father gave Him everything, etc. In God’s kingdom we are always heirs, receivers, more than we are givers. All we give is but a token of what we have received.
We persuade others to serve. We invite them to act. When they need a rest they are free to take it. When they don’t understand what we are asking they are free to go and think about it. We are not pushy salesmen. We love the product, so we can get carried away in our attempt to share it, but it is a gift which cannot be received under pressure. One must pull it toward them self, it cannot be pushed upon them.
The kingdom of God is a happy place, and service is but one component if the lifestyle of its inhabitants. Without service it wouldn’t be happy. With too much service it wouldn’t be happy either. How much is too much service? That is to each individual to decide. If a person wants more blessings, they can serve more. This doesn’t mean that those with a fullness of joy are constantly serving, but it dies mean that there is a lot if work to get done, and who better than us to do it. A person will be happy not only as they serve but as they rest and play. There are seasons of work and seasons of play. Some seasons are average, some are quite hard. One is willing to let the Lord have a voice in telling which season we are in.
Today we are weak, but in the resurrection our bodies will be strong, and capable if both working more and playing more.
Alma taught people the plan of salvation before teaching them the commandments. We establish God’s happy play for you, then we talk about how to make it happy, today and always. Where there is no vision the people perish. Study scripture and prophets and inspired writings of various types. Not only does the body need constant nourishment, but so dies the spirit. This feeding the spirit is done by scripture, music, literature, games, exercise, work, research, teaching, resting, etc.
