After reviewing many biblical examples of faith, the Apostle Paul wrote: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1–2).

In the Parable of the Footrace, the runner represents each of us, and the track he ran is our personal path, and even the plan that God has for each of His children. The race organizer represents God Himself. In a sense, we might say we’re thrown into the race before we really realize what has happened—the starting pistol has fired, and here we are with our spirits housed in our bodies and living life while we try to figure out how we ended up here in the first place.

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The Parable of the Best Chocolate represents the trap we can fall into when making an offering to Heavenly Father. He makes some not insignificant requests of us. From the time of Adam until Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses, the firstling of the flock was to be dedicated to the Lord and offered in sacrifice as an atonement for sin (Moses 5:5, 20). It had to be without blemish of any sort. Giving a flawless firstling required faith that there would be more to come.

I wrote this parable about the time I realized that in a particular aspect of my life, I was not giving God the best. (I won’t pretend that it’s the only aspect.) During the work week, I aim to go to bed around 9:30pm so I can get about eight hours of sleep before I get up and fit in everything I want to do before going to work. I have small children who wake up anywhere between 5:45 and 7:00 in the morning, and an adult needs to be conscious. It works out fine because the majority of the time, I’m already awake by the time they wake up.

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About 600 years before the birth of Christ, an angel showed a young man named Nephi a vision. By way of introduction, he asked Nephi if he understood what the condescension of God meant, and Nephi admitted that he didn’t (1 Nephi 11:16–17). In response, the angel declared, “Look and behold the condescension of God!” (v. 26) and showed him the ministry of Jesus, beginning with his submission to baptism at the hands of John the Baptist.

Often, the word condescend has a negative connotation; I think of it as someone talking down to me or being patronizing in their treatment of me. The other person thinks he or she is on loftier standing. But the phrase “the condescension of God” means much more and is much more positive.

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One of the purposes of the teachings of Jesus Christ is to edify us, or to build us up. In February 1831, He revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith: “I give unto you a commandment, that when ye are assembled together ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given” (Doctrine and Covenants 43:8). Later that year, the Lord taught Joseph that if a gospel teacher teaches by the Holy Spirit, and if those who hear do so by the same Spirit, they will “understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:21–22).

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

The words edify and edifice come from the same root—where to edify means to build up, an edifice is that which has been built.

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Everything the Lord has created is governed by laws. For example, physical things are governed by physical laws (with the law of gravity being one we become well acquainted with from our earliest years). He has also given a set of spiritual laws that govern our spiritual progress. Of all of the things He has created, one of the ways He set humankind apart was by giving us the choice whether to follow that set of laws. The Parable of the Robot alludes to the placement of the Lord’s laws in us individually.

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