My wife and I are about to have our fourth child. A while ago someone posed the question to me: what does the Priesthood mean to you, as the father of a new child?
It took me a while to gather and organize my thoughts. This question has some rather large implications. If I were to put it succinctly: the Priesthood means to me, as a father, that my family is bound and sealed together forever, by the unending power of God. And I have evidence to back my statement.
To me, holding the Priesthood of God means that I have the authority to act in His name and carry out His will as long as I keep myself worthy to do so by following Jesus Christ. But holding the Priesthood also means that I can and have partaken of holy ordinances and blessings which are available in the holy Temple, the Lord’s house. These ordinances are performed by that same Priesthood authority which I hold.
How do I know the ordinance of sealing my family together in the Holy Temple of the Lord is effectual? Because I have given and received blessings with that very same power and authority. I have felt the unmistakable peace that comes from invoking the Hand of the Lord to provide comfort. Through Priesthood blessings, I have felt my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, walking beside me when there was no one else who could come to my aid.
I have seen miracles of healing that have come as a direct result of Priesthood blessings and the exercising of faith in God’s power and love for us. I have given blessings to my fellowmen and have spoken words I know were not my own, but were the will of God. I have seen God’s power manifest through humble men who hold the Priesthood and use it to serve others.
Though my evidence of God’s power on Earth is somewhat intangible, I have felt it and His love for me so strongly that there is nothing which could possibly refute it. I know God and His Son, Jesus Christ live and love us. They want us to be happy and they want us to have joy with our eternal families. The Priesthood of God is the power by which this is made possible.
By: Jon Sudar