- He owns everything.
- You are accountable to him for your use of his gifts, which is all you have.
- He demands your loyalty and obedience.
- He rewards good and profitable stewards lavishly.
- He punishes bad or selfish stewards by taking gifts away and giving them to others instead.
It is made all the more poignant by what God has given you:
- a body.
- a world that provides air and all other useful resources that we not only need, but desire.
- plants and animals that feed us, clothe us, and give us ideas (birds to planes, for instance).
Loyalty is greater than blood. You may be a child of God, but your Loyalty keeps you in the family and blessed.
I watched the movie "The Freshman" recently. It was funny yet again but made poignant by the recent thoughts that God may very well be similar to the Marlon Brando character that parodies Don Corleone of "The Godfather" fame. As many times as I have been "tricked" by inspiration from God to be somewhere and do something that was necessary, I saw the same activity as the premise of this film. Brando never raised his voice but the college kid played by Matthew Broderick was justifiably intimidated and therefore easily shepherded into the scam being pulled. There were rewards of money, vehicles, a fiancee, and even fraternal attention lavished for the college kid's simple yet successful performance of interesting tasks. For those that do his business, we see several analogous rewards from God.
God doesn't tell us everything, which should shock no one. It might be unpleasant to many if God metaphorically cracks nuts with his bare hands in interviews, has a quiet spiritual voice of authority, and mentions loyalty all the time. When I ponder it, the personification of our Heavenly Father could fit this mold quite readily and makes far more sense given what we know of him and his ways than typical sallow-faced or kindly depictions.
Matthew 25
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
"I don't know you" - God and Christ will wipe you from their minds (at the very least) if you don't obey them loyally. Sounds like something that a Godfather figure would say and do.
You promised to follow him (Christ) and accept what he offers you by a covenant (stronger than just a pinky promise). Now, you wander around blindly with only the goal of NOT following him, denying God and his Christ, and ignoring your committment.
But, wait! The Joseph Smith translation of the Bible switches things around, as expanded upon by Elder Bednar:
JST Matt. 25:11 … Verily I say unto you, Ye know me not.
It is like the Lord is saying that people don't understand God and Christ and how they work. Just as the world of "The Godfather" may be alien to us, so is the understanding of many toward the heavenly realm.
In support of the idea that we might profit from treating Heavenly Father something like a Godfather and Jesus Christ like his very loyal "capo", I bring in the parable of the wedding feast:
Matthew 22
11 ¶ And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like this according to Jesus and verse 13 sounds like something along the lines of wearing a pair of "cement shoes" and being dumped in a river. The improperly clothed man was not supposed to be there and I can see the Don ordering such as execution.
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The "light of Christ" might be much like the "tribal" subconscious memory of your pre-earth commitments that niggle at you and help you recognize the truth when you see it. I wouldn't be surprised if most depression and feeling wrong is a person's neglect or even fight against the commitments that were burned into your soul when you chose to follow Christ into mortality - the only way you get here. Such things can be the consequences of avoiding or fighting your promises to follow the Agenda of God.
Everything about life needs to be viewed through the lens of bringing ourselves, our spouses then children, and others to the altar of Christ: this is the manifestation of Love that matters. If you love God, you will invest totally in his Agenda. If you love your "neighbor", you say the truth of Christ to them, so they can "remember" (the light of Christ) their pre-earth commitments and can choose to act on them. Any other definition of love is inferior.
To avoid marriage and family is to make yourself into an ineffective influencer during life and a poor servant of Christ, alongside breaking the commundment to "replenish the earth". We spend a lot of time coddling ineffectiveness. You have greater influence on your spouse and children than anyone else. Treating them well is a means to an end - to get them to exaltation, which is God's will. "Love" is God's tool to get his children to follow the Agenda, both tough (fierce, uncompromising, masculine) love and perhaps some soft (teddy bear, kissy-huggy, feminine) love.
For my part, firm loyalty will get you much further in God's eyes than any current manifestation of love. Don Corleone honors loyalty with great rewards, wouldn't be manipulated by love, and I think our God is of a similar vein.
