'We must be better than we have ever been before'
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To qualify for the Lord's promised blessings, "we must be better than we ever have been before," said Elder Dean L. Larsen of the Presidency of the Seventy. "As the world ripens in iniquity, our lives of necessity must become increasingly different from the world and its standard," he told the priesthood session Saturday evening. "It will be a great challenge."Those who succeed, he affirmed, "have the sure promise of the Lord that He will prosper us in every way necessary for our well-being".
Elder Larsen read several scriptural passages, particularly Alma 1:26-31, 4:6, 8 and Helaman 3, that demonstrate that when the inhabitants of the earth remember the Lord and are obedient to Him, He blesses them not only with spiritual blessings but with material abundance as well. He cautioned, however, that the blessings are conditional and the cycle of riches often leads to pride and disobedience.
"This kind of material prosperity has always been a fragile thing," he explained. "It has proved to be one of the greatest tests with which a people can be confronted."
He said when the people are in harmony with the Lord's will, "all of the essential factors that produce the blessings God deigns to give to His children see, to come into line. Love and harmony prevail. Even the weather, the climate, and the elements seem to respond. Peace and tranquility endure. Industry and progress mark the lives of the people."
However, he cautioned: "It is one thing to look back on the events of history. It is another to regard our own time."
"We have the Lord's assurance that He will bless and prosper His people if they will keep His commandments and remember to look to Him as the source for their blessings. On the other hand, we must not forget that these blessings are conditional."
