Yean's Talk: Procrastinate The Day of Repentance

Thursday, 10 September 2009

I enjoyed the following talk that Yean made in the sacrament meeting on the 23 August. With his permission, I have posted here to share with you.


Good Morning Brother & Sister,

I’m grateful to be standing in front of you that I have given an opportunity to share my talk today. I’m grateful for the branch presidency for giving me this opportunity to share my talk.

The branch presidency had asked me to focus my talk about on one verse in the Book of Alma Chapter 34, Verse 32. It’s says “For Behold, this life is the time for met to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for me to perform their labors.” As a side note in my scriptures, I know that this verse is part of a scripture mastery that I have learned during my seminary years about Procrastination of Repentance. As the scripture explained, it says that what we are doing on this earth is the time for us to be prepare to meet and live with God in the future, we are not to be idle on this life and just have no purposes.

We should prepare to meet God in this life, and we have to do our own work to be able to live with him someday. The 1st step is not to procrastinate the day you will prepare to meet with him. First, “What is procrastinating?” Procrastinate means postpone doing what one should be doing. For example in our daily lives We always hear this, “Haih, I’m SO TIRED, I think I go to bed straight away, tomorrow only I will read the scriptures”. That’s what you call delaying the work that you should be doing at that moment. So the 1st step of preparing ourselves of meeting God is to be worthy in his sight and we should not be procrastinate it.

Let’s give you an example of my experience in my lives about procrastinating. I’ve been in KL branch since in the year 2004 until now. Everyone know me back then would know how much I gain in weight throughout that time until now. That time I was 65kg, the perfect Body Mass Index (BMI) for my height. Now I’m 85kg, overweight and not in a perfect shape. Everybody keeps saying to me “Wow, you growing bigger!” I don’t mind people saying that, it’s just that I know I have to blame myself on the weight gain. Sometimes I tell my friend, “No No, it’s not me! I blame it on KL food” but actually I have to blame it myself.

Every year and then, I would always make a promise to lose weight by this certain kg, or by saying that I would start exercise 3 times a week every week. But every single time I would procrastinate and delay the effort. Each time I start doing exercise, after few weeks I’ll stopped and my weight would never dropped. In saying, I gained 20kg in the past 5 years. That’s 44 pounds. That’s like average of 4kg gained each year. People may say, this is a small issue to consider procrastinate upon.

But let’s see in term of procrastinate for our repentance, that’s a bigger issue. Every now or then, I would always hear the challenge and difficulty of people to convert and baptism because of their lack of control of their word of wisdom. Let’s say this guy is a heavy drinker of coffee and he want to repent for doing this, but he’s struggling. So he make goal each year that he would stop but every year also he’ll continue back. So he procrastinate this and say he would stop at next year, and again the same thing happen, and he still can’t stop. So in my story, I gained 4kg each year but if he drink around 400cups per year that means in 5 years he would have drink around 2000 cups of coffee. If one cups of coffee is equal to one sin. That’s around 2000 sins to repent of. That’s is an example also.

I’m not really sure how sins are counted of, but whatever it is, if it’s like that, then that’s a lot of sin to be accountable of. We should be counting our blessing not the other way around. If we stop procrastinating the day of our repentance sure enough the accumulated sins will increase and it’s much harder to repent of. If we say “Do it NOW!”, and not by saying “later la!” it will be easier for us to repent off. As for my weight I must be hypocrite if I say I don’t procrastinate it, but the truth it I’m still working on it.

As for church members, we would also always hear that we always tend to procrastinate the things that we should be doing, for example the time of reading the scriptures. You’ll always hear if we are busy, we tend to say “Haiya, I can read it that chapter tomorrow”. So the next day, you’ll have 2 chapter to read, then again you said you’ll do the following day, this will go on until you forget what chapter you are in and that you have to restart reading all over again. This is what happen to me 4 years back. I’ve never finished reading the Book of Mormon at that time because I keep procrastinate the time of reading it. But one year, I vowed myself that I read the whole book. So by doing this, I make time reading it, and I’m prideful to say that I’ve finished it. But only by reading it once doesn’t make me Better also. I must continue reading the scriptures every year and keeping to the promise you’ll make. Now I’m struggling with my Old Testament, but I’ll also promise myself I’ll complete the Old Testament in due time.

I would like to share to you an article that have been given by our First Counselor in the First Presidency, Henry B. Eyring. The article is found in the Ensign of November 1999 issue during that time he served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle. The topic of the article is “Do Not Delay”.

He wrote saying that temptation to delay comes from our enemy, Lucifer. He knows that we can never be truly happy unless we have hope in this life and then realization, in the next, of eternal life. It is the greatest of all the gifts of God. It is to live in families forever with our Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ and to have eternal increase. Satan wants us to be miserable as he is. And he knows that we can only have the true happiness if we are washed clean through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by deep and continuing repentance, and the making and keeping of sacred covenants offered only through God’s authorized servants. The scriptures confirm the hazard. In (1 Nephi Chapter 10 Verse 21)

“Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever”

And so Satan tempts with procrastination throughout our days of probation. Any choice to delay repentance gives him the chance to steal happiness from one of the spirit children of our Heavenly Father.

We have all been tempted with that delay. We know from our own experience that President Spencer W. Kimball was right when he wrote, “One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination,” and then he defined it: “an unwillingness to accept personal responsibility now”. And so Satan works on both our desire to think we have no cause to repent and our desire to push anything unpleasant into the future. He has tempted you and me, and those we love, with thought like this: “God is so loving; surely He won’t hold me personally responsible for mistakes which are simply the result of being human.” And then, if that fails, there is the thought that will almost surely come: “Well, I may be responsible to repent, but this is not a good time to start. If I wait, later will be better.”

There are some truths which expose those lies intended to tempt us to procrastinate repentance. Let’s start with the deception, which is so attractive, that we have no need to repent.

The truth is that we all need repentance. If we are capable of reason and past the age of eight, we all need the cleansing that comes through applying the full effects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When that is clear, we cannot be tricked into delay by the subtle question: “Have I crossed the line of serious sin, or can I put off even thinking about repentance?” The question that really matters is this: “How can I learn to sense even the beginning of sin and so repent early?”

In the articles that I just spoken of, it is really obvious that However the difficult the circumstances, we all can repent. As difficult as circumstances may be, we are accountability for our actions or our inactions to be obedient and repent and not to procrastinate it. As in the scriptures said, in (1st Nephi Chapter 3 Verse 7) Nephi said that God gives no commandments to the children of men save He prepares a way for them to obey. In this scriptures it shows that there is always a way to repent as our Heavenly Father want us to do so, he will show us to way.

The verse that I focus on today is part of the beautiful scriptures of procrastinate of our repentance. The verse actually start from (Alma Chapter 34: Verse 30-34) where it said:

30 And now, my brethren, I would that, after ye have received so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, ye come froth and bring fruit unto repentance.

31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you

32 For behold, this life is the time for me to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

The consequence of not obeying this law are written in the following verse. (Alma Chapter 34 Verse 35) where it said “For Behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected t the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.”

These verse is one of the warning that our Heavenly Father warned us. If we procrastinate the day of our repentance, we will be consume by Satan, and the Spirit Ghost will withdrawn from you, and had no place for you until you have repented for the sins you have done. This warning really emphasis on the importance of not procrastinating to repent for our sins, even though we think it’s a small thing.

So as conclusion, we must ponder the words that have been said by our brethren and servants of our Heavenly Father in the scriptures that it may help us in our lives to become a better more like Jesus Christ as said in the scriptures in (3rd Nephi Chapter 27 Verse 27) where it said “And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgement which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”

So the question is “When DO WE START?”. This question is only be answered if you pondered in your heart the scriptures that I mentioned above (Alma Chapter 34 Verse 30-34) and also the words that I have spoken of.

I testify that God the Father lives. I know that He loves us and His only Begotten Son lives. I know that Heavenly Father send his servants to the earth and guide us in this latter days. I know that the Book of Mormon is the most true that have been translated by Joseph Smith by the power of our heavenly father. I know only by him and through his Son, that we can live eternally with him once more.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Enrichment Counselor

Sunday, 6 September 2009

Last Sunday (30 Aug), Branch President Owens told me to revert today, with respect to my being called as the Branch Enrichment Counselor. I checked on the internet about the responsibilities and found that I do not have the testimony in a number of aspects.

But then I thought, maybe that is why I am called. I feel I am incapable of magnifying this calling but on the other hand I remember a quotation (I can't remember from whom) that says that He calls us not because we are capable but because we are available, humble and teachable. Furthermore I know I am not alone. I can seek counsels from my Relief Society President and the priesthood.

The branch needed an Education Counselor as well but Sister Lorrie felt that the Enrichment Counselor is more urgently needed. I have been the 1st Counselor (which is now the Education Counselor) in 2 branches before and this is the 1st time I have been called to the Enrichment Counselor position. I was set apart after the block meetings today.