"And choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;"

So, my first blog post shares the name of this blog. It's based off of my absolute favorite scripture, found in 2 Nephi 2:28-29. It states,

28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

To those of you who aren't familiar with this scripture, or the Book of Mormon (feel free to email me, in that case!), for that matter, Lehi is talking to his sons before he dies, and is giving them advice. Basically, Lehi wants his sons to make good choices. But, there's so much more going on here. 

Lehi states that “I would that ye should.” We all SHOULD keep the commandments, we all SHOULD be doing what we can to gain eternal life. Its a great suggestion, really. There is nothing greater in this life than striving to gain eternal life. But ultimately, we decide what we want to do. The choice is ours! We have our free agency, we can decide whether to choose eternal life or to choose eternal death. 

Lehi tells his sons that they should look to Christ as their example. What a fantastic example He is. Christ is literally the only person who has walked the earth that hasn't sinned! Striving to be like him is a great goal. Yes, it is hard. Yes, we will make mistakes. However, when we actually follow Christ and become better people, the reward is so worth it! 

When we make the choice to chose eternal life and follow the path of the Savior, we are free from eternal death. There's just one thing - choosing eternal life is a CONSTANT choice. You have to always be choosing eternal life! Because this choice has such greater blessings, this choice is also the harder one.

 Remember in Harry Potter, when Dumbledore tells Harry that he must choose between what is right and what is easy? That's exactly what's going on here. Following the Savior is what is right. Not following the Savior is what is easy. And when we don't follow the Savior, we follow Satan. You may not be actively following Satan, but you aren't actively following Christ. Remember, this choice is one of those "one or the other" things. We've got to be making sure we're choosing what is right, and not what is easy. 

I'm sorry for such a long post..but I love this scripture! There is so much going on here, I could spend all day talking about it. But what I want to emphasize is that choosing what is right brings such greater blessings than choosing what is easy. Life is hard! Life is so, so hard. I personally know this. But, I also know how much better life is when I'm choosing to follow the Savior, when I'm doing what's right, when I'm reading my scriptures, when I'm trying to be a better person. I know that following the Savior might not make life easier, but it makes life better. And I want that for everyone! I want everyone to feel of his love when you follow Him.

I promise you that when you choose eternal life, and make that constant choice to do so, you will feel the peace, love, and joy that I've felt. I challenge each of you to test this out, to actively choose to follow the Savior, and I know you will be blessed for doing so!