Gospel Application: Passports and Ordinances

This weekend was our Stake Conference, and last night our stake president made a great gospel application that appealed to my travel obsession and helped clarify the role ordinances play in Christ's church. He shared this insightful truth: it is the ruler of the kingdom that we want to enter who determines the requirements for entry. For example, when I visit Dubai next month, I will have to comply with the requirements put into place by the government of the United Arab Emirates in order to enter their country. If we want to enter our Heavenly Father's kingdom, we must meet his requirements. We can try to negotiate them all we want, but He is still the one who decides. Our ordinances and covenants are like passports or visas. We must have them in order to get where we want to go, and they must be administered by someone who has been given the authority from the ruler of that kingdom. Our Heavenly Father has set the terms and we can try to negotiate them all we want, but his requirements are set. Our Stake President told about a time when he forgot his passport and needed it for an upcoming trip to Italy. He knew that he would follow all the laws while in the country and leave at his appointed time - he was not a threat to their national security and would be gone shortly - but the simple truth was that without a passport and the required visa, he would not be able to enter the country, no matter how worthy he was. Similarly, we can be as good as we want, but without the necessary ordinances, we cannot enter our Father's kingdom. The great mercy in this situation, though, is that unlike a country's government, the ruler of our Father's kingdom has provided a plan and a way for all people to have access to the ordinances necessary. It is our charge to accept them and live worthy to receive the blessings that come through the covenants associated with them.