"What doest ye for Christ?" Elder Sam K. Shimabukuro of the Seventy asked Sunday afternoon.

"The burden of proving our discipleship; in other words, what we are willing to do for Him, rests squarely on our shoulders," explained Elder Shimabukuro who was called to the Seventy in July 1991.He said for those who profess to be disciples of Jesus, there is a question in Matt. 22:42 that is of great import. "The question as raised by Jesus Himself is: `What think ye of Christ?'

"I'm sure we have thought of or have been asked this question before. No doubt we have come up with many responses and all have been reflective of the deep love and esteem we have for Him."

Elder Shimabukuro said the question, "What doest ye for Christ?" is a follow-up of the question, "What think ye of Christ?" and is "appropriate in assessing and measuring our discipleship - yours and mine."

He explained that the question, "What doest ye for Christ?" is of great importance because it poses a challenge that has eternal implications and consequences affecting mortal life and life beyond the veil. "The issue now is not what we think of Him, but rather what we have done, are doing and will do for Him.

"Clearly our discipleship could and would be measured by our responses to this question, and obviously such responses must be in terms of works more than words."

Jesus taught, Elder Shimabukuro added, " `Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven.' (Matt. 7:21.) He brings home the powerful message that to do His Father's will is the key to entering the kingdom of heaven.

"To think and to testify of Christ are very important," admonished Elder Shimabukuro, "but in addition, these must be followed by good works patterned after those of Christ."

Elder Shimabukuro explained that the "description we eventually would like to leave of ourselves as we labor diligently to answer the question by the works we do may well be called character - hopefully even a Christlike character.

"It becomes clear the wisest and most sensible thing for us to do as His disciples is to labor diligently during this mortal estate to become like Him and acquire a Christlike character by following and doing what He taught and showed us."

Elder Shimabukuro admonished: "The greatest of all achievements that we can attain in our long and challenging journey through immortality is when our claim to discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ reaches the stage where we can say with all honesty: `His ways are our ways and His thoughts our thoughts.' "