Doctrine and Covenants 38:7-8 -- On Purification, Hope, and Light

"But behold, verily, verily, I say unto you that mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and ye cannot see me;
But the day soon cometh that ye shall see me, and know that I am; for the veil of darkness shall soon be rent, and he that is not purified shall not abide the day."
Doctrine and Covenants 38:7-8


The whole idea of seeing the Lord is amazing, and even though it sounds like seeing God could just burn us up, the possibility of being able to talk to him as many of the prophets have, face to face, seems worth the work and the risk. So how do we get there... apparently purification, so that we can abide the day. :)

When I think of purification, I think of Lamoni's father the king, who asked "what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast?" and maybe we all feel that way sometimes. We want to be better than we are and pure and holy and kind and generous and good through and through, but too often we betray ourselves and reveal our corrupt natures and our frequent unwillingness to be who God asks us to be. In answering the king's question, Aaron was also speaking to us: "If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest."

That's the way to escape the darkness intact, and survive to see God... we need to work on purifying ourselves--letting go of our sinful natures, and learning about and accepting God and his will into our lives. That's the way we rise above ourselves and become better than we could ever make ourselves if we had to do it alone. God will help us if we seek his help and earnestly seek that hope. ... Today, let's work on being the kind of people that can abide in the light after the veil of darkness is torn away, and see our hope in Christ.