Short Stories and Essays
JOHN THE BAPTIST, OUR ELIAS-ASSIGNMENT, AND THE WORD OF WISDOM
[John E. Enslen wrote this short essay in the early morning of January 4, 2023, upon reading the Come Follow Me lesson for the day. He pondered the following scriptures from Luke 1:15-17.]
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Because John was going to be an Elias, he was placed under a special higher-law covenant. (An Elias is a forerunner for the Lord, assigned to prepare the way for his coming.)
You and I have been reserved for the last days. Like John, we have been placed under a special higher-law covenant. We have an Elias-type of assignment to help prepare the way for the Lord’s second coming.
Like John, we have been forbidden to drink wine and strong drink. That prohibition involves more than the law of obedience and the blessing of good health. The higher-law covenant sets us apart from the world. We are to spend our limited, precious, mortal time on our Elias assignment. We sacrifice the sociality and laid-back lifestyle of those who are not a part of the higher-law covenant. This personal sacrifice makes us “great in the sight of the Lord,” and we can be more often “filled with the Holy Ghost.”
If we are faithful to our Elias assignment, we can in our lifetime, like John, “turn to the Lord our God many of the children of Israel.” Like John, the Lord will also give us the “power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.” The Lord has given us tools like the Family Tree App to help us teach others how to turn their hearts to their fathers, who in turn will turn their hearts to their children.
We live in an age when we can numerically influence more people than John was able to influence. For the disobedient who give heed to our cries in the wilderness, the Lord blesses with wisdom—hidden treasures of knowledge that are in addition to naturally better health. We are part of an Elias-army. Just like John, with our latter-day Elias assignment, we are to help “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”