It’s all about knowing what you want and eliminating distractions.
What you want determines what you seek. What you seek determines what you will find. What you find determines who you become.
That is a key theme of the Savior’s Sermon on the Mount. Consider the following:
- Acts of service, prayer, and fasting can all bring eternal rewards. But if you become distracted by a desire for praise from others (an unreliable and fast-decaying reward), you may fail to receive and enjoy the powerful and permanent rewards these activities can intrinsically provide. (See 3 Nephi 13:1-18, Matthew 6:1-18.)
- If you dedicate yourself to gathering and storing earthly treasures, like wealth, prestige, and organizational authority, you may discover that you have traded your most important resource—time—for perishable goods. There is no way to make those things last forever, so making them your end goal, instead of treating them as means to a greater end, is futile and self-defeating. (See 3 Nephi 13:19-21, Matthew 6:19-21.)
- When you focus your attention and your efforts on things of eternal importance, you invite God’s light into your life, and that light becomes part of you. (See 3 Nephi 13:22-23, Matthew 6:22-23.)
- You can’t please everyone, and when you try, you don’t please anyone. The demands of other people can overwhelm you and prevent you from doing the most important things. (See 3 Nephi 13:24, Matthew 6:24.)
- Food, clothing, and other short-term needs can consume our attention, crowding out long-term needs and opportunities. When we have faith in God, we worry less and obsess less on those temporary needs. We trust Him to help us meet our temporary needs, which frees up time and energy to focus on our eternal needs. (See 3 Nephi 13:25-34, Matthew 6:25-34.)
Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find” (3 Nephi 14:7, Matthew 7:7). Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf added, “We rarely find something we are not looking for” (“A Higher Joy,” General Conference, April 2024). The key is to focus on acquiring and building things of eternal value and avoid cluttering our lives with possessions and accomplishments that will be irrelevant in ten or twenty years, let alone in the next life.
Jesus said, “If…thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (3 Nephi 13:22, Matthew 6:22). The Greek word translated “single” in this passage is haplous (ἁπλοῦς), which means literally “without folds.” It indicates something that is simple, sincere, and straightforward.
When we overcomplicate our lives, we may inadvertently shut out the light. Simplifying and focusing enables us to receive and absorb more light.
Today, I will focus on eternal treasures and heavenly rewards and avoid being distracted by pursuits of temporary value. I will trust God to help me navigate the numerous demands of life, so that I can dedicate time, attention, and effort to things of eternal significance.
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