The story is told of a man who kept a fine swarm of bees. Summer after summer, he took great pleasure in watching the little busy creatures go to fields of sweet clover and fly back to the hive to deposit their treasure and seal it over with the wax that would keep it clean and wholesome and nourishing.

One summer, the bees discovered a garden of poppies. Instead of flying a further distance to the fields of clover, they went to the nearby poppies. However, before they had collected the nectar that they would turn into honey, they grew sleepy and returned to the hive. Upon awakening, they flew back to the abundant source of blossoms in the poppy garden and, again, they grew too sleepy to collect the nectar. The drug in the flowers produced the same effect throughout the summer; the bees seemed to have forgotten the reliable fields of clover and, instead, were drawn to the more attractive poppies. Winter came, and found the bees unprepared, for their whole summer had been wasted in the soothing poppy garden. (From an article in the The Improvement Era, December 1929, p. 105. An editor's note indicated that this was a true story related by a friend of the bee keeper.)

It is easy to draw analogies based on the story of the "poison poppies." We can liken it to those activities that temporarily bring us pleasure as they take us away from more long-lasting joys. So many things in life give momentary excitement but are followed by discontent and regret.

President David O. McKay stated: "A testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the most sacred, the most precious gift in our lives, obtained only by adherence to the principles of the gospel, not by following the paths of the world. You may get momentary pleasures by following the enticements of the world.

"You may get transitory pleasure, yes; but you cannot find joy — you cannot find happiness. Happiness is found only along that well-beaten track, narrow as it is, though strait, which leads to life eternal.

"That is my testimony to you. Sometimes there are obstacles; there is persecution; there is self-denial; there will be tears because you are coming constantly in contact with these enticements, with these worldly ideals, and you have to overcome them; and, for the moment, there will seem to be sacrifice, but it is only temporary. The Lord never forsakes those who seek Him. It may not come just the way you think, but it will come. The Lord will certainly fulfill His promise to you" (David O. McKay, Treasures of Life, Deseret Book Co., 1962, pp. 229—31).

The Lord loves all His children, and has given commandments to guide each one on the return path to Him.

Without a doubt, our Heavenly Father is mindful of us, His children. So is Satan.

President Ezra Taft Benson taught that Satan is committed to our destruction. In remarks directed toward the youth of the Church, President Benson, then president of the Quorum of the Twelve, said, "He (Satan) does not discipline you with commandments, but offers instead a freedom to 'do your own thing' — the freedom to smoke, to drink, to misuse drugs or rebel against the counsel and commandments of God and His servants. Satan knows that you are young, at the peak of physical vigor, excited by the world, and consumed by new emotions.

"Satan knows that youth is the springtime of life when all things are new and young people are most vulnerable. Youth is the spirit of adventure and awakening. It is a time of physical emerging when the body attains the vigor and good health that may ignore the caution of temperance. Youth is a period of timelessness when the horizons of age seem too distant to be noticed. Thus, the now generation forgets that the present will soon be the past, which one will look back upon either with sorrow and regret or joy and cherished experiences. Satan's program is 'play now and pay later.' He seeks for all to be miserable like unto himself. The Lord's program is happiness now and joy forever through gospel living" (Ensign, November 1977, p. 30).

The story of the bees that kept returning to the poisonous poppies teaches so well the concept that often that which is attractive or easily accessible might bring misery rather than joy. Wise choices must be made.