President Hinckley gives great talk at BYU Devotional

posted by Curt Bentley, on September 20, 2007 08:53 pm

President Hinckley gave a great talk on Tuesday at a BYU Devotional. He used an image of an imploding building to describe what happens to the life of a person who indulges in sin. The best part about his image was that, just as an imploded building can be reconstructed or replaced, so can the life of an individual who has sinned to the point of destroying his or her life. Rather remakrable, really. Here is a brief quote:

We believe in being chaste. I observed a very interesting thing the other day. In Salt Lake City, early on a Saturday morning, the Key Bank building was brought down with a series of well-placed detonations. It all happened in three or four seconds, with a great cloud of dust that rolled to the northwest. The process is called an implosion, in contrast with an explosion.

The building was constructed nearly 30 years ago. I suppose construction extended over a period of at least a year, maybe two. Now it was gone in seconds.

That, my friends, is the story of so many lives. We nurture them ever so carefully over a period of years. Then we find ourselves in highly charged circumstances. Mistakes are made. Chastity is compromised. There is an implosion, and a ball of dust is all that is left.

I was reminded of this when I recalled a young man and a young woman who came to my office. He was a handsome boy and she was a beautiful girl. They were university students. Their future looked bright and beautiful. But they gave in to temptation. Now they were going to have a baby. Their dreams of the future literally collapsed. They would be married. He would work at a low-paying job with the meager skills that he had.

Tears filled their eyes as they talked with me. But there was no escape from the reality that faced them. Their lives had suffered an implosion, and a tower of dreams had come tumbling down.

Do not let this happen to you. Do not sell yourself short by compromising your commitment to morality. You are, each one of you, children of a divine Father in Heaven. You were created after His design in the image of your Creator. Your body is sacred. It is the temple of your spirit. Do not defile it with sin.

Now, hearkening back to the illustration of the tower that collapsed, I remind you that in its place will be constructed a new and beautiful building. Similarly, those who have transgressed can turn to their Redeemer, our Savior Jesus Christ, and, through the power of His Atonement, be made clean and new again. The Lord has said, �Be faithful . . . ; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees� (D&C 81:5).

Understand that you are being chased. Satan is chasing after you, and you had better run as fast as ever you can.