There are people of all ages who seem too timid and/or unsure of their own ability to learn skills that would enlighten their minds and make their lives so much more interesting and glorious. For example, some have had very little experience with a computer and feel that they could never learn how to operate one. They have forgotten or didn’t know that we are His spirit offspring whom He loves and wants to bless. As such, we have the potential to become whatever we choose to become. We are limited only by our innate abilities (talents) and our personal drive to become. The third most important revelation given to man, is the revelation that assures us that we are agents unto ourselves, meaning that we have the freedom to choose. God has given us guidelines which, if followed, will make it possible for us to find joy and fulfillment while we sojourn here in mortality. Our agency, however, allows us to choose to be obedient to those guidelines or disobedient. We also are given to understand that with that agency, we are responsible for the consequences of the choices we make. Elder Boyd K. Packer said that, “The Lord will not tamper with our agency.” We can’t blame God, or anyone else, for bad choices. Along with that agency, however, God has provided a way to rectify our mistakes or bad choices. The repentance process leads to forgiveness of the mistakes and poor choices we have made. Is it ever too late to change? As an enlightened people we cannot believe that it is.
Man’s destiny is eternal in nature, meaning that here and through eternity we may aspire to try to become like our Father.
We can become whatever we are capable of becoming (even learn to use a computer). Progression or improvement should be the desire of all those who have been enlightened by these revelations. The scripture in Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect” is our green light to go for it. We are limited only by our given talents and what we decide to do with those talents. If I have been given two talents and if I decide not to use them (in a sense bury them), then I will lose even those that I had been given. The lack of use of any bodily organ will cause it to atrophy or waste away, that includes muscle mass as well as brain tissue. Evidence of that is the recommendation by professionals that one can reduce or slow down age related dementia by working puzzles or in some other way of exercising the brain.
It has been written, “The mind of man is like a captive eagle which forever frets at its hateful tethers.” This is true only for those who can still see the blue sky where they yearn to soar. Take away their dream and sooner or later they will no longer fret at their tethers but rather accept the limitations they impose on themselves. “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.” (D&C 93:36) That applies to man as well!
A deer, successfully leaping over a high fence, will not try to find a higher one to see if he can jump it, too. But a man will and must seek for greater challenges to fulfill his destiny. There will always be a higher fence to test the skills and expand the view of the enlightened. An individual who refuses to be challenged, comes to a self imposed stalemate, he has placed his drive in neutral. Thank God, for revelation!