We can make choices that will help us feel the guiding and sanctifying power of the Spirit in our lives, or we can distance ourselves from it. We can keep striving to be like Christ and Heavenly Father, who don't want us to trade eternity for an instant, or like Satan, who wants us to focus only on the here and now. Satan thinks nothing of asking us to exchange all we have and might become for what is, in the eternal perspective, a few fleeting moments of mortality. Christ, on the other hand, gave all that He had so that those fleeting moments could educate and enrich us rather than condemn us. He opened the door for all of us to reach our potential.
Brad Wilcox, "Voices of Hope", compiled by Ty Mansfield, Deseret Book 2011
The way I see it is either we are moving forward on the path that leads to eternal life, or we're moving backwards. There is no such thing as standing still. If we aren't actively doing the things Heavenly Father wants us to do, then we aren't moving forward.
No longer can we keep a foot in Babylon, so to speak, while the rest of us is firmly planted on the Good Ship Zion. I have to work on this one for sure. I tend to find an excuse, or I leave myself an out, per se. It's like my commitment level is in the upper 90's, but it isn't always 100%. Maybe I'm too tired, or maybe I just don't want to fight the battle so I give in momentarily, or maybe I think that I'm not strong enough to win. I have a lot of reasons, or rather, excuses.
But not being 100% leaves a foothold for Satan to get in, and that spells trouble...eventually, once the door has swung open completely.
I guess that it what "enduring to the end" means. Striving to always be, always, 100% committed even when I don't feel like it. And, when Satan creeps in when the door is slightly open, I need to rely on my Brother to close the door again. It seems like a constant back and forth. It does get drafty. 😁
But that's mortality... again, another excuse. 🙄