President Ezra Taft Benson said that, “When our Heavenly Father placed Adam and Eve on this earth, He did so with the purpose in mind of teaching them how to return to His presence. Our Father promised a Savior to redeem them from their fallen condition. He gave them the Plan of salvation and told them to teach their children faith in Jesus Christ and repentance. Further, Adam and his posterity were commanded by God to be baptized, to receive the Holy Ghost and to enter into the order of the Son of God…which fullness is only received in the House of the Lord.” President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), see Ensign, Aug. 1985, 8) If the Father’s purpose is to teach us how to return to His pres- ence, then our purpose ought to be to learn the lessons He has prepared for us. Purpose is such an important concept; purpose is what gives life meaning. While some search for purpose, oth- ers will be satisfied to believe that there is none. There is a saying that ‘This life is a test—it is only a test. If it had been an actual life, you would have received further instructions on where to go and what to do.’ Like Lehi’s dream depicts, there are many wandering through life, not knowing where those instructions might be found.
There has to be a reason (purpose) to move or the body will remain dormant. The amount of energy the body releases for any given activity is directly related to the importance of the reason or purpose inherent in the person. An Arab proverb states that you should “Dwell not upon thy weariness, thy strength shall be according to the measure of thy desire.” Desire here could be exchanged with purpose. Human energy is related to food only as a battery is related to an electrical charging unit.
In order to use the energy in a battery and/or for a man to use his energy, there has to be a means of extracting it. A battery’s energy will be released as a light or a tool is properly connected to it so that the energy may be drawn from it. The same with man; there must be a purpose that will draw energy out of him. A man may sit on his couch all day stuffing his face with all manner of food while watching TV and yet, without purpose, he may barely have the energy to get up off the couch to go to bed. ‘Life’ is a verb, ‘Death’ is a noun, Man must live, not merely exist. When we develop an action plan that gives our life purpose and meaning then, as night follows day we will have the energy to follow that plan. Someone has said, “Want to live longer? Then you better have a really good idea of what you’re living for.”
A purpose-driven life will be a happier and more productive life, but it goes without saying that there are going to be disappoint- ments and difficult times for each of us. It has been said that “The size of our success is measured by the strength of our desire; the length of our dream; and how we handle disappointment along the way.”
There is a story about a family who was sad and disappointed when they found out that their pet dog had cancer and had to be euthanized. After it was done and while the family sat around in a somber mood, they were talking about how much their pet will be missed. Someone posed a question, ‘I wonder why pets lives are so much shorter than humans?’ The six-year-old son piped up and said, “I know why!” The family all turned to him as he offered his answer. “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life—like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” As he continued, they all wondered what was coming next. “Well, he said, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.” We should keep focused on life’s primary purposes, which are to learn to love, to be kind and to learn how to return to the Father’s presence. With our focus on those purposes, nothing in this world will be insurmountable. Remembering that we are not saved in exclusion of our families and loved ones. For, as the prophet Joseph Smith has said, “We without them cannot be saved.” The journey into eternity is not a solo mission.