Endure to the End

So, how do you endure to the end? Or is just the thought of it so intimidating that you immediately stop thinking about it? It does sound overwhelming--endure to the end. Why, that could be years and years! And exactly what does it mean, anyway, and how can a human being possibly do such a thing?

In the October 1993 Ensign Stephan E. Robinson has an article titled "Enduring to the End" which offers some perspective on this phrase. He talks about what it is and how to do it and how to get back to enduring to the end if you slip away from it.

Sometimes we may think of the word endure as meaning getting through afflictions and trials. While that is a part of it, Brother Robinson says, "The fact is that enduring affliction is only a small part of what “enduring to the end” means. Most frequently, the scriptures use the term endure to mean “to last,” “to continue,” or “to remain,” rather than “to suffer....Thus, to endure is to continue in the path we adopted at baptism by keeping our commitments to Christ, until the end of our mortal life."

That has a more positive feel to it, doesn't it? We commit to Christ and then continue with that commitment. We make covenants (baptism, sacrament, temple) and then keep them. In addition, as Brother Robinson says, there is:

Besides keeping the commandments, other component parts of remaining faithful to our covenants include:

• Looking unto Christ (see 3 Ne. 15:9)

• Taking upon us the name of Christ (see 3 Ne. 27:6)

• Feasting upon the words of Christ and pressing forward in steadfastness, hope, and love (see 2 Ne. 31:20; Moro. 8:26)

• Offering our whole souls to Christ and continuing in fasting and prayer (see Omni 1:26)

• Following the example of Christ (see 2 Ne. 31:16)

• Worshipping the Father in the name of Christ (see D&C 20:29)

• Seeking to bring forth Zion (see 1 Ne. 13:37)

• Being patient in afflictions and humble in repentance (see Alma 32:15; D&C 24:8)

Notice that the common focus of all of these exhortations is loyalty to Christ. Consequently, enduring to the end is more than just “being active” in the Church. Enduring to the end requires a personal awareness of obligations made to the Savior and a personal determination to keep those covenants faithfully. While the term “being active” describes visible behavior, “enduring faithful to the end” describes an inner commitment to the gospel and to the church of Jesus Christ. It’s possible to appear to be an active member of the Church without such a conviction.

Brother Robinson ends his article by saying:

Even when one’s endurance has failed before the end, repentance can bring about a new beginning.

Trials, deception, and iniquity—these are the enemies of endurance. Those who can bear the pain of trials, who can ignore alternate voices, whose loyalty can’t be bought with sin—these are they who will not betray their Master’s trust. They will faithfully maintain the charted course. They will endure.

So there is a way to correct errors and to recommence in the right path. That is a great comfort. The article contains so much more and I hope you will read it all. In addition, if you go to the link I've provided, it will link you to all the scriptures mentioned in the article. I've skipped that step this time (linking to the scriptures) because I am not enduring being sick very well today, but I did want to share this wonderful article with you. Read it, ponder it, apply it to your life.