A saying my offspring may remember me for after I’m gone is “To know is to do.” This has been my response at times when my wife or I reminds one of our kids of something she needs to do, and she says, “I know!”
When a task needs doing, knowing that fact doesn’t equate to completion of the task.
In a gospel context, the scenario could be gaining plenty of gospel knowledge but not acting accordingly. I’ve known more than one teenager or tween who has a testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, but they haven’t yet learned to translate that into the way they treat other people, so they still make fun of or exclude some of their peers. There are certainly times when I know that the Lord wants me to do something, but I neglect to do it.
When it comes to the end of everything, when He judges me according to my works and desires, the only way that knowledge factors in is to provide a measuring stick for those other things.
Based on a comment my wife made in a Sunday lesson, I wrote the Parable of the Exercise Videos to illustrate this concept. Ed was told by his doctor that he needed to exercise. Ed tried to get away with just watching fitness videos, and of course, he didn’t become any healthier in the process. Simply witnessing someone else sweat it out doesn’t burn any of your own calories.
President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has taught: “In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something” (“The Challenge to Become”). Never has the Savior taught that we can enter His presence by passing a quiz or reciting as many scriptural passages as we can call to mind. He will look to see if we have become like Him in our hearts and daily walk.
The good news is that Jesus can be with us along the way and change us. Who better to help us become more like Him than the one who has achieved perfection? In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweat great drops of blood in His suffering, so we should not suppose we can walk His road and go where He went without some sweat of our own. It thus behooves us to put down the spiritual junk food, figuratively get off the couch, and start doing those exercises that will build spiritual strength.
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The Weekly Parable 