Obedience

Today in stake conference the theme as presented by the stake president was the scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants 130:20.  Most of the speakers then talked about obedience.  For a moment though I want to take a step back away from this verse and look at its surroundings.  This section seems to be tidbits of information that the Lord thought it would be hand for his prophet to be aware of and in turn the prophet gave us that same information.  A phrase that crosses my mind when I study this section is "man's thirst for knowledge".  The verses immediately prior to 20 mention the fact that whatever we learn in this life we will take with us.  This speaks to me, upon reading the next couple verses, that I must become well aware of the laws of heaven.  In fact I must diligently search out and understand the laws upon which our existence and the universe is built.
During the conference I often heard in the back of my head the old arguments of blind obedience.  Though I cannot believe that.  If we are to use this scripture as our sole evidence then it is obvious we must be aware of the reasonings of the law.  We must know why the law is and gain knowledge of it.


Joseph F. Smith said on September 3, 1892,


Concerning the question of blind obedience. Not a man in this Church, since the Prophet Joseph Smith down to the present day, has ever asked any man to do as he was told blindly. No Prophet of God, no Apostle, no President of a Stake, no Bishop, who has had the spirit of his office and calling resting upon him, has ever asked a soul to do anything that they might not know was right and the proper thing to do. We do not ask you to do anything that you may not know it is your duty to do, or that you may not know will be a blessing for you to do.
If we give you counsel, we do not ask you to obey that counsel without you know that it is right to do so. But how shall we know that it is right? By getting the Spirit of God in our hearts, by which our minds may be opened and enlightened, that we may know the doctrine for ourselves, and be able to divide truth from error, light from darkness and good from evil.


I love how he says that we need to know the doctrine for ourselves.  Not just know the law and what it commands of us but know the why behind it.


On a side note, it seemed out of place from the normal rhetoric I hear out here when a member of the temple presidency spoke of the rending of national sovereignty and the disposal of nations and law as we know of it today.  There was quite the reaction across the building when he mentioned global society.    It is interesting how Satan will take and idea of the Lord's and then present it to the people of the world but change it ever so slightly that it is a bad thing but when the Lord's version is presented it is grouped with that idea which has been defined as bad already.