Brother Michael T. Nelson’s grandson once asked his mother, “Why are we here on Earth? If God knows everything, then He knows what choices I will make. Why can’t He just send me now to where He knows I will choose to go?”
Brother Nelson’s daughter responded that in an institute class she attended years earlier, they discussed a similar question as it related to God’s command to the prophet Abraham that he sacrifice his son, Isaac. The class decided that God knew Abraham would obey, but “Abraham needed to know that Abraham would obey,” Brother Nelson said.
His grandson concluded that he needed to have the experience of choosing for himself.
Brother Nelson, second counselor in the Young Men general presidency, taught BYU–Idaho students at a Tuesday, Jan. 30, devotional that their experiences on earth grant them the opportunity to choose the type of person they want to become and the type of life they want to live for eternity.
He said that God taught His children many important truths in the premortal life, and they are rediscovering these truths through the Spirit as they learn the gospel.
“As we discover truths in this life,” Brother Nelson said, “we have the chance to choose what we will do with them.”
In 2004, President Boyd K. Packer taught: “A teacher of gospel truths is not planting something foreign or even new into an adult or a child. Rather, the missionary or teacher is making contact with the Spirit of Christ already there. The gospel will have a familiar ‘ring’ to them.”
A probationary state
While Heavenly Father taught His children eternal truth in the premortal existence, no amount of knowledge could replace a “state of probation” where we can ”feel, taste, see, hear and choose the type of life we want for eternity,” said Brother Nelson.
While God may have taught His children how to care for their bodies, without them, they could not understand the consequences of bodily ailments such as sunburns. Nor could they fully comprehend the joy that their bodies may bring, such as the feeling of sinking into a hot tub, he said.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “Our physical bodies make possible a breadth, depth, and intensity of experience that simply could not be obtained in our premortal estate.”
Mortality, Brother Nelson added, is a time to test in a physical world the things people were taught as spirits in the premortal life.
Experience allows choice
The experiences people have on earth allow them to choose what kind of life they are comfortable living eternally.
“Our choices reflect our desires,” said Brother Nelson. “Righteous desires make it easier to make righteous choices.”
Focusing on learning gospel truths can motivate people to make righteous choices with the intent of becoming, rather than simply adhering to a list of do’s and don’ts.
Developing our appetites for truth
As a gift, God has blessed His children with strong physical and spiritual appetites that can, if used correctly, strengthen their bodies, relationships and spirits, he said.
“Everything we choose to feed our minds, through our eyes, ears and mouths, can increase our appetites for these familiar truths or it can weaken them.”
How people feed their appetites influences their desires and the choices that result from that.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “In that cumulative process, today’s small inflection for good adds to what becomes tomorrow’s mountain of character.”
For example, said Brother Nelson, eating a sprinkled, sugary donut can diminish one’s taste buds for the subtle nutty flavors of a homemade slice of bread. And listening to worldly music can make it harder to appreciate uplifting music. He said that God often accompanies the words of pure truth with music, like in general conferences.
“The music you choose to listen to, day in and day out,” said Brother Nelson, “may have more power to cultivate your desires and shape your choices than anything else.”
But quoting Church President Russell M. Nelson, he added that permanent change in one’s appetites “can come only through the healing, cleansing and enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”
Living in the world
While living in a world of increasing darkness can be discouraging, the light of truth will “shine with increasing intensity,” Brother Nelson said, with the contrast making it easier for individuals to discern between good and evil.
But even as wickedness becomes more apparent, it will not be enough to simply avoid it. Rather, Brother Nelson told students they must spend their time living like Christ did.
“A life of real joy is built by investing time in the things that are celestially significant,” said Brother Nelson.
As people choose to become disciples of Jesus Christ and develop healthy spiritual appetites, they will be able to consistently live the celestial laws God lives.
“Gradually, we can naturally and intuitively see as He sees and want what He wants.”
