For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served – Mosiah 5:13 – Come, Follow Me Ponderize and Commentary

For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served – Mosiah 5:13 – Come, Follow Me Ponderize and Commentary

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?

I love this verse because it’s message is just so clear and straight forward. The three different situations mentioned here are different and yet they also feed into each other. Neal A. Maxwell said, “Failure to serve the Master in small ways estranges us from Him.” In another talk he expressed it this way.

If one “mind[s] the things of the flesh” (Rom. 8:5), he cannot “have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16) because his thought patterns are “far from” Jesus, as are the desires or the “intents of his heart” (Mosiah 5:13). Ironically, if the Master is a stranger to us, then we will merely end up serving other masters. The sovereignty of these other masters is real, even if it sometimes is subtle, for they do call their cadence.

Remember that “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other (Luke 16:13).

Service is one the vital keys to getting to love and know the master. Henry B. Eyring said, “We come to love those we serve. If we choose to begin to serve the Master out of even a glimmer of faith, we will begin to know Him.”

Why must we get know and love the master? The people of King Benjamin had just received the name of Christ, so let’s first look at Mosiah 5:12 to find the answer to this question.

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.”

So, if you know the master, you will hear His voice. If you hear, love, and obey His voice, you will retain His name in your heart. Then you “should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all” (Mosiah 5:15).

It is my prayer that as we serve the master, even Jesus Christ, with all our heart, might, mind, and strength we will love Him and know Him and then we will receive these great blessings. Oh what a blessed day.

Craig