Sacrament Prayers Part 5

The next part differs from the bread to the water. They both start out with the phrase "that they may witness unto thee." To witness is to observe or experience personally. When one serves as a witness in a trial, they are giving account of something they were present for, or saw, or heard. You cannot witness to something that you don't have first-hand experience with. So when we partake of the Sacrament, we are witnessing, or giving personal testimony, that we will do the things that follow.

This is where they differ slightly. The only difference is that in the prayer over the bread, we witness that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, in addition to other things. To take upon ourselves someone else's name is to identify with them, to take their creed upon ourselves, and to accept the consequences. When we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we cannot do it lightly, because He did not do it lightly. Those who would criticize Him, will criticize us, and those who revile against Him will revile against us.

The rest of the promises on our end are the same in both prayers. We also witness to always remember Him. Here again is that all-important word, remember. If we would remember Him always, we would treat people differently, pray more fervently and act with more faith. That doesn't mean that other things aren't going to hold our attention, because that would defeat the purpose of this life; we came here to live and learn. But God isn't just in His Gospel; He is all around us, in all the beauty and creative minds that give us things to read and listen to. When we always keep in mind whether something is bringing us closer to the Spirit, then we are keeping Him in mind. And when we think of our fellow men as brothers and sisters, we remember Him.

Last of all, we witness to keep His commandments. I like to think that if we can keep the greatest commandment, then all others will follow. Christ Himself gave this commandment during His ministry. It is to love God with all thy heart, might, mind and strength. When we can truly do that, all others will fall into place, because when we love God, we want to show that love by following His commandments. When we love God, we can feel that those commandments are not to restrict or punish us but to bless and protect us. When we love God, we trust Him, fully and without any reservations. And that is true happiness.