Heavenly Advice

DECEMBER 16
Heavenly Advice

Where do you get advice?

Advice; there is much of it in the world. On talk shows. In books. Within movies. Even in church, or from a friend or a neighbor. Some of the advice is good. We see the truth spoken even if we don’t always want to believe it. At other times, we are confused. Was she really right? Should I do what she says? Should I listen to him? Is he right? Even in these blogs I have given some advice. Is this so bad?

Sometimes it just seems easier to go to our mother or friend when we have a problem. They are flesh and blood living on the planet. We can see them. They understand us. We can hear them without question.

But should we?

Because pondering is a big part of receiving answers to anything, it is often easier to get the easy answer. The one we need without having to ponder. The one that is only a phone call away. The one in a book or from a friend.

The Lord has said, “…ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men…How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?” (John 5:40-41; 44)

When we go to our friends for advice, are we really seeking for honour and not answers? If we truly wanted an answer, where would we go? Who should receive all the glory and honor we have to give?

These words may seem harsh to you. What are friends for, but to confide in? A book, but to learn from? Someone’s opinion but another opportunity to see a different view?

I remember the day the thought entered my heart that the Lord really was a “counselor.” These are the words I read, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (2 Nephi 19:6).

What better counselor could we have than our Lord and Savior who “knoweth all things?” (See 2 Nephi 9:20)

What would our lives be like if, after we read a book, or talked with a friend, or went to a movie that was especially enlightening, if we returned home and asked our Father in Heaven what was true? What would happen if we asked our Father about the book before we read it? What if we went to our Father first, before asking a friend her opinion? Could the Holy Ghost then whisper the truth through the voice of our friend? And then, would we know the answer when it came?

“Counsel with the Lord,” today. Record your impressions.