Commandments For Our Protection

In my lifetime, my family has had many cats: Chester Tiger, Marvin K. Moonie, and Boingo just to name a few; in fact, our family almost always had at least one pet cat. What happened to all of these cats? In most cases coyotes happened. Our cats were allowed free access to the outside whenever they wanted, so long as there was someone to let them out, and so many were out during the night. These cats then fell victim to the many coyotes wandering the city at night, one of them, Dog, even fell victim twice. With all these lost cats my father was hesitant to get our two current cats, Cow and Skimbleshanks. We agreed on something new with these cats, when the night comes, the cats come in. Cats being Nocturnal animals and loving the outdoor protest almost every night, begging to go back out, but out of love and for their safety, we keep them in knowing that coyotes lay beyond the threshold of our door.


Like these cats, we have our own natural disposition. We long to go out at night not knowing that coyotes are there looking for a snack. Our Father in Heaven because he loves us, calls us in at night and wants to keep us within the safety of the house, where no coyotes can come in, and does so by giving us commandments. Just as these cats view being indoor at night as limiting their freedom and fun, we may view the commandments as restricting, as a way of keeping us from having fun; unlike the cats though, we have the ability to open the door.

God has given us our agency, our ability to choose. With this ability to choose, we are able to do many great things; however, we can also sin. Because of his vast knowledge and his infinite love for us, God, has given commandments to protect us.

The scriptures teach that when we obtain any blessings it is by obedience (see Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21) and that if we do as our Father in Heaven says, he is bound to keep his promise, but if we don't then likewise we don't have the promise (D&C 82:10). He wants to protect us, He wants to help us, just as my family wants to keep our cats safe, but He cannot lock us in a house, so He teaches us through the commandments how to get indoors away from the coyotes, away from the things that would harm us. We need to be willing to listen to his words and then obey, because when we do, then we will be protected against evil.

At times we may not fully understand why God has given us specific commandments, we don't see what it is protecting us from, like my cats don't understand why we keep them in at night to keep them safe from hungry coyotes, but we can be confident that all the commandments God has given us are for our good. Let us be obedient so that we will be protected. We are Children of God, if my family finds protecting our cats, how much more does God want to protect us from? On multiple occasions Christ asked the question, "how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gather her chickens under her wings?" (see 3 Nephi 10:4-6). Let us then be obedient so that we can be gathered safely.