The covenants we make with the Lord are the same ones He always makes with His followers. They are based on obedience and sacrifice. We promise to obey Him and give up our wants, needs, and desires, and He promises to save us in four ways: physical death, suffering, spiritual death, and damnation. Our salvation in each of the four ways are independent of the others. We can be saved from suffering and not from spiritual death, for example. Thus, each has a different covenant, and a different sacrifice. Each of the covenants is an internal commitment -- they are all spiritual and of the heart. Nobody can see them; they are not concrete; they do not exist in time and space, but rather in Eternity. In order for us to begin to grasp the concept of these commitments we are making to God, we have tokens given to us.
We can sacrifice only what we possess, but we don't own, or possess, anything of the world; all of it belongs to God. The Lord explained this in the Apocalypse: "Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." (Revelation 3:17) Paul tells us that we don't even own our bodies: "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19) In other words, we don't possess anything of the world, not even our own bodies.
If we possess nothing, then how can we possibly make a sacrifice? It’s too easy to sacrifice other people's stuff, namely God's so all of our worship are tokens of the real sacrifice: a broken heart and a contrite spirit. When Jesus came to visit the Nephites He told them, "I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit." (3 Nephi 9:19-20) They were no longer just to give the tokens by living the letter of the Law of Moses, but were now required to make the actual sacrifice by keeping the commandments in their hearts. Some consider paying tithing or offerings, fasting for a few hours, going to church every week, or keeping the Sabbath day holy to be great sacrifices. These, however, are not the true sacrifices, but only tokens of the real thing.
A broken heart means that whatever we love of the world is replaced by the love of God. Our heart is broken when those things on which our heart is set are forsaken. The first commandment is to love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength. This means that nothing in the world could be more important to us than God. Jesus explained, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:37) Even our own families must be put behind our love for God.
Job understood this concept well. After losing everything, including all his children, he said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21) He later said, "The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." (Job 3:25) His heart was broken.
Abraham was also a great example of one who loved God more than anything. The Lord told him, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." (Genesis 22:2) He was willing to sacrifice his promised heir, his only son by Sarah, as a token of his love for God. His heart was broken.
The term "contrite spirit" is a description of humility. Contrition happens when we begin to see the reality of who we are in relation to God. After speaking with God face-to-face Moses declared, "For this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed. But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him." (Moses 1:10-11) In Numbers there is an interesting parenthetical statement, "(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)" (Numbers 12:3) This is a "contrite spirit."
A "broken heart and a contrite spirit" are the only things we truly have to give to God. He owns everything else. Whatever else we give are only tokens of this, or they are nothing at all. Some sacrifice foolishly because the Lord doesn't command it. After the death of Christ all the burnt offerings were just burning sheep, nothing more. Those who only give part of what God commands are worse off. Ananias and Sapphira sold some land and kept some of the money, giving the rest to Peter as an offering. Peter discerned the lie and both of them died as an example, or token, of what happens to those who don't give to God with their whole heart.
All the Saints are required to give the tokens of their commitment to God. These include tokens of obedience and sacrifice, the Gospel, the law of chastity, and ultimately, consecration. It seems so hard. The early Saints had to give everything they owned to the Apostles, and they had all things in common. All were required to sacrifice houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for Jesus' sake. Later, many were even required to give their lives, including the Apostles themselves. All these sacrifices are but tokens of what they had in their heart and spirit, for they actually possessed none of them. The Saints today make the same covenants with God to make the same sacrifices. We give what the Lord commands directly and through His servants in authority. However, all of the things we possess, our time, talents, and even our lives that we may be required to sacrifice are but tokens of our commitment to, and love of, God.
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