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BYU-Pathway Worldwide Devotional

“The Lord Shall Send You Again"

April 27, 2021
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It is a pleasure to be with you today, brothers and sisters. As BYU-Pathway Worldwide students, many of you are seeking learning in order to support yourselves and your families, to get a better job or to earn more money.

While these things are important, they are pieces of a much larger picture. In the grand masterpiece of God’s plan, your education now is preparing you for the mission and callings God has in store for you — and He will send you again and again. 1

Your Calling

Allow me to illustrate with a personal experience. I have been called as a bishop three times in my life.

The first time, I was a 24-year-old university student with two young children. I felt totally inadequate, but this experience taught me how to receive the revelation I needed to serve.

I was called for a second time 13 years later. I had more experience, and I think I did a better job.

But then the Lord called me to be a bishop for the third time — four years later, in the same ward, and just after I had been released as a mission president in Brazil. My experience as a mission president opened my eyes to new ways I could serve. The calling hadn’t changed, but I had!

All of you will have opportunities to serve throughout your life, in your Church callings, families, professions, and communities. And on top of all these important roles, you’re a student at BYU-Pathway too!

You may wonder at times: Will all this effort be worth it? Will I get that better job, gain the skills, or strengthen my family in the way I was hoping? Or, perhaps more importantly, is God pleased with my efforts to earn an education?

The Importance of Education


In the Doctrine and Covenants, we read: “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life … he [or she] will have so much the advantage in the world to come." 2
Even though our resurrection and the world to come may feel far away, our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, explains that the Lord has a purpose for our education in this world. He said, “In the Church, obtaining an education and getting knowledge are a religious responsibility. We educate our minds so that one day we can render service of worth to somebody else." 3
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Russell M. Nelson, “Focus on Values,” Liahona, Feb. 2013

The Lord’s promise is that what you are learning will not only help meet your needs now, but will also prepare you to serve in meaningful ways in His kingdom throughout your life and even after.

Embracing All Kinds of Learning


If the purpose of education is to serve in God’s kingdom, then what should we study? In Doctrine and Covenants 88:78, the Lord says, “Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand." 4

To be instructed in doctrine, we might think of studying the scriptures, general conference messages, or even the Come, Follow Memanual. These are all very important. This verse says, though, that we should “be instructed … in all things that pertain” to God’s kingdom.

The Lord explains what He means by “all things” in the next verse: “Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms." 5

Of course, God wants His children to eventually learn about all of these things, but He only asks us to learn the things that “are expedient for [us] to understand” right now.

He Will Send You Again and Again


Everything we learn has a purpose, which the Lord explains in verse 80: “That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you." 6
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That is the point of all your efforts to diligently pursue education! The Lord is counting on you to prepare now to fulfill the mission He has commissioned you to — to serve in His kingdom. And, as you study and prepare, He will send you again and again — and again.

As you do your best to learn diligently, remember the Lord’s promise: “My grace shall attend you." 7 You are never alone! He wants you to succeed as a person, as a family, and as an instrument in His hands to bless the lives of His children.

My testimony to all of you is that Jesus Christ lives today! He and Heavenly Father have a mission for you. Your education through BYU-Pathway, coupled with the gospel, will help prepare you to magnify your callings. He will send you again and again, and His grace shall attend you. Of that I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.