Follow the Living Prophet

What an incredible blessing it is to have a living prophet! The quotes below come from Teachings of the Presidents of the Church - Ezra Taft Benson, Lesson 11. Here is the link for the entire lesson. It was very clear from the story at the beginning of the lesson that as a child President Benson was taught that when the prophet spoke, the family did what the prophet said. It is definitely something that President Benson lived and preached all his life. This lesson is especially thought-provoking! While there were many things in the lesson that I really loved, these two quotes are worth some serious consideration:

"A revealing characteristic of a true prophet is that he declares a message from God. He makes no apology for the message, nor does he fear for any social repercussions which may lead to derision and persecution."

and -

"How we respond to the words of a living prophet when he tells us what we need to know, but would rather not hear, is a test of our faithfulness."

We can definitely see both happening now. Our leaders boldly declare the truth! And many people find that hard to hear. One definition of follow is "to move behind in the same direction." If we are following in the same direction as our prophhet, we will make no apology for his message nor fear any social repercussions. That may indeed be a difficult test of faithfulness! Following the prophet has always been a blessing! Maybe even more so today!

Following the prophet was a theme President Benson carried throughout his church service. One of the most powerful talks he gave about following the prophet was given at a BYU devotional in 1980, years before he was called to be the prophet. Here is the link to that talk. It is definitely worth reading or re-reading!