In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy leaves her home and finds herself in a strange new land. All she wants to do is return home, to where her family is. To find her way back home she has to go to the Emerald City and talk to the Wizard of Oz. To get to the Emerald City she had to follow the yellow brick rad. Along her way, she met some challenges and made some new friends. She met he Scarecrow who desperately wanted a brain. She met Tin-Man who yearned for a heart. And who could forget the Cowardly Lion who just wanted some courage? With her new friends by her side and a firm hope that she would be able to find her way back home, she endured all of the trials and barriers along the way and eventually found her way back home.
We are all like Dorothy in a way. We have left our home in heaven and are now in a strange new place. Our ultimate goal is to return back home to our Father in Heaven where we can be with our families forever. To get back home we must follow "the path which leads to eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:18) Our life experience is a tough one. We encounter many obstacles and bumps in the road. We've been promised by our loving Heavenly Father that if we endure this life well, we will receive eternal life and happiness. What do we need to do to endure and stay on the path to eternal life? Well, we need to be living the gospel faithfully. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized by one holding the priesthood authority, and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost by one holding the priesthood authorty. But there are other attributes we need to learn along the way to help make our long journey home more bearable.
All over the scriptures we're councelled to have faith, hope, and charity.
Ether 12:28 ~Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.
Alma 7:24 ~And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
1 Corinthians 13:13 ~ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three...
Faith, Hope, Charity, and developing our knowledge of life and of the gospel will help us as we continue on the path back to our heavenly home.
The first one that Dorothy met on the yellow brick road was the Scarecrow who was in search of a brain. When we came into this life, we began to develop knowledge and we continue to grow in our knowledge every day. We're always being taught and we're always learning. In the Bible dictionary under "knowledge" it reads, " One of the attributes of God. Knowledge of divine and spiritual things is absolutely essential for one’s salvation; hence the gospel is to be taught to every soul. “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?”(Romans 10:14). Heavenly Father wans us to always be learning and the knowledge we obtain in this life will go with us into the next life.
Next, Dorothy met Tin Man who longed for a heart. One of the most important attribute to develop in this life is Charity. Charity is "the pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:47)
Ether 12:34~And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
We learn more about charity in 1 Corinthians 13. If you don't have charity you are nothing. It doesn't matter how much knowledge you have, how talented you are, or how giving you are, if your don't have charity, you don't benefit. Bible Dictionary says this, "Charity~ The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds of benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive." We don't give charity, we have charity and it's that charity motivates us to act.
As Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man continued on their journey, they met up with the Cowardly Lion who was looking for some courage. In the Old Testament there are several scriptures that instruct us to "be strong and of good courage." (Joshua 1:6, Ezra 10:4, Psalms 27:14...) The scripture I really liked was Ezra 10:4~ "be of good courage, and do it." There's no need to fear in taking action. 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Courage is the opposite of fear. and fear is the opposite of faith. So, to have courage is to have faith. With faith, especially in Jesus Christ, we can accomplish many great things.
During her time in the land of Oz, Dorothy maintained her hope that she would find her way back home. Just like Dorothy, we too need to he hopeful that we will be able to make it through this life and return home to our Father in Heaven. The scriptures say a lot about hope.
Ether 12:4~ "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world..."
Moroni 7:41~And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.
We are all on our own Wizrd of Oz journey. Life is a probationary state where come to be tried and tested. If we didn't have faith, hope,charity and knowledge, enduring this earthy experience would be a lot harder that it need to be. We are promised in 2 Nephi 31:20~ "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ (courage/faith), having a perfect brightness of HOPE, and a love of God and of all men (charity). Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ(knowledge), and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."
What more can I say? There's no place like home!
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