"There is [a] matter that prevents many of us from enjoying the Spirit of the Lord in our lives as we might: the tendency to live on the edge, to play percentages with God, to tempt fate and to place ourselves in circumstances that can contribute to our spiritual undoing. There are those who want to see how far they can go without going all the way; those who want to drive the vehicle as close to the edge of the cliff as possible with no intention whatever of falling; those who cunningly creep up on the flame with no intention of ever being burned; those who want to enjoy all the privileges of Babylon but at the same time keep their citizenship in Zion intact. I promise you that there is no lasting happiness in such approaches to life, but rather a type of moral or spiritual schizophrenia" (Robert L. Millet, Selected writings of Robert L. Millet, p.351).
As we purify our thoughts and hearts, we will become a Zion society like that described by the LDS hymn:
This earth was once a garden place,
With all her glories common,
And men did live a holy race,
And worship Jesus face to face,
In Adam-ondi-Ahman.
We read that Enoch walked with God,
Above the pow'r of mammon,
While Zion spread herself abroad,
And Saints and angels sang aloud,
In Adam-ondi-Ahman.
Her land was good and greatly blest,
Beyond all Israel's Canaan,
Her fame was known from east to west,
Her peace was great, and pure the rest
Of Adam-ondi-Ahman. (Hymns, #49)
We must be pure of mind and heart so we can as a church become a Zion society. We must build Zion within each of our homes and within each of ourselves. As we hike through life, we need to partake of pure water, whether it is gathered in purity from springs or taken from other sources and filtered and cleansed. As we purify our minds, we are sanctified by the Spirit of the Lord and are blessed individually and as families.
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