Regularly asking, “What would the Lord Jesus Christ have me do?” reveals profound direction. Following His example provides a safe path through uncertainty and a loving, guiding hand to hold from day to day. He is the Prince of Peace and the Good Shepherd. He is our Comforter and Deliverer. He is our Rock and Refuge. He is a Friend—your friend and my friend! (the cross references in the actual text are worth while).
I like to picture in my mind what must have been the Savior’s joyful anticipation that we, His trusted premortal disciples and friends, would continue to be loyal to His cause while here on earth. We are therefore not surprised that Christ would later testify to His disciples that “ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:63). This declaration of affection, I believe, naturally extends to all of us.
Next came the promise that owing to our premortal loyalty and obedience, we would one day have the potential to become members of the house of Israel through Father Abraham’s lineage due to our spiritual disposition to hear and heed God’s voice and by entering into sacred covenants with God (see Doctrine and Covenants 29:7). As members of the house of Israel, we would be entitled to covenant blessings and responsibilities such as Christ’s promise expressed to the Nephites: “The Father having raised me up unto you first … because ye are the children of the covenant” (3 Nephi 20:26).
You and I are marked—indeed, earmarked—because of our premortal loyalty and obedience. Having already stood firmly with our Savior once, including during the War in Heaven, we are now called to enlist once more in this final battle, with the War in Heaven continuing, as it were, on this side of the veil along the same battle lines of good versus evil, light versus darkness, and truth versus falsehood.
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If you were indeed close to Him premortally (and I believe you were), if He really suffered and died for you (and He did), if His atoning sacrifice is meant for you individually and specifically (and it is), if the remission of sins and incremental growth line upon line in this life is why you are here in the first place (and it is), you can perhaps understand why the Father’s anger is kindled against those who “will not understand [His] mercies which [He] hast bestowed upon them because of [His] Son” (Alma 33:16).
