KBYU rebroadcast scheduled for Sunday
Focusing his remarks on the parable of the watchman on the tower from the Doctrine and Covenants, Elder Earl C. Tingey of the Presidency of the Seventy addressed students Tuesday in the de Jong Concert Hall.
Recounting the story of the watchman on the tower, Elder Tingey offered five suggestions to protect students and families from Satan’s attempts to destroy the family.
“First,” Tingey said, “listen to and follow the prophets and apostles. They will warn you of impending dangers.” In a world of turmoil, wickedness, war, and confusion, the prophets and apostles offer guidance and direction. Furthermore, Tingey stated, the prophet offers guidance on many social and political issues faced today. “We do not change,” Tingey asserted. “If it was wrong in the Old Testament days, it is wrong today. If it was wrong in the New Testament days, it is wrong today – all this because we have living prophets who ‘stand in holy places and [are] not moved.’”
His second suggestion was to “be grateful the Church has provided towers.” Defining towers as revelation, or “a symbolic point of elevation where we may see the enemy before others do,” Tingey emphasized the importance of modern-day revelation, scripture study, and temple attendance.
Tingey then counseled students to keep the standards of the Church.
“Live the standards," Tingey said. "There are so many uplifting gospel standards today to help us. None should be viewed as limitations of personal freedom, but as a hedge of protection against an encroaching enemy.”
Elder Tingey encouraged students to always carry a copy of For the Strength of Youth with them, as well as to honor and listen to the counsel of their parents.
His fourth piece of advice was for students to “believe that you are like an olive tree of old – that is, you are precious.” Testifying that they were made in the similitude of Jesus Christ and that the Lord has a special work for each one of them, Tingey told students that “each of you is a special olive tree in the eyes of the Lord. He loves you.”
In conclusion, Tingey asked students to “remember the responsibility of being a faithful servant.” Noting that the servants in the parable began to second-guess, he said “We must be certain that we … do not fall asleep in performing tasks assigned to us from the Lord.” Through faithfulness, he promised, we will be able to see the enemy before he can harm us; “I bear my testimony that you will be protected from the evils of Satan if you look for the ‘watchman on the tower’ and faithfully follow all the counsels we receive from the Lord and our leaders.”
KBYU will rebroadcast Elder Tingey’s devotional on Sunday, June 17 at 6 a.m. and again at 11 a.m.
Writer: Alexis Plowman
