Mosiah 5:10-13

"And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God.
And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts.
I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you.
For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"
Mosiah 5:10-13


Interesting stuff... I wonder sometimes how strong our commitment to Christ is.  Even when we aren't doing all the things that we are supposed to be doing, we still *believe,* right?  At least that's what we tell ourselves... but then there are scriptures like this... the more we transgress, the more Christ is blotted out of our hearts.  That is hard to hear... but it feels true.  I know when I am screwing up my life, I pray less, I read less... just generally communicate with God less.  And I think that I lose something serious... probably a lot of things.  My ability to remain calm, for one.  When we aren't doing the right things it is hard to even think of God in a positive way... and we start losing him.  Our knowledge of him... our knowledge of ourselves that he offers us even.  The last verse hits the hardest I think... How am I supposed to meet Christ and be judged by him when I don't even know him... and when I am doing wrong things I don't know him.  It's like how we edit what we tell other people.  We usually leave out the things that we are ashamed of.  This affects our relationship with Christ in a couple of ways... first... when we are ashamed of things, we aren't going to want to talk to God very much, who knows all of it, and who we know doesn't approve.  We avoid him.  And, second... sometimes we deceive ourselves into believing that what we are doing is right... which, you know, prevents a nervous breakdown... but which also makes us ashamed of *Christ* ... and then we leave *Him* out of our lives.  How are we going to know Christ if we don't talk to him, include him in our minds and hearts throughout the day, and if we never listen to him?  Even our very closest friends are going to fade away if we never talk to them or see them... and then when we run into them accidentally, we never fail to very obviously lie to them.  And don't think that I am saying anything that I don't need to apply in my own life either... it is a challenge for each of us, to try to get to know Christ better, to invite him into our lives, to learn the wisdom of his commandments through application.  And sincerely... I don't think that there is anything that we can do that will be more important to us in the long term.  Getting to know Christ... communicating with him, learning from him... that is the focus.  If we can get that right, then he'll lead us to all else that we need to do.