“Shine Unto the World”

Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet

The Lord calls us to point the way. In a world which is too often shrouded in uncertainty and doubt, the Light of Life bids us to let our light shine, to stand as beacons in the storms of the night, and to certify our discipleship by preachment and practice. Discipleship entails example.

Discipleship involves standing out from the generality of mankind and standing up for what is true and right and good. We come to make a difference only when we are different, and that difference must be substantive enough to be witnessed and then acknowledged by others… .

We allow our light to shine- our testimonies, our witness of the truthfulness of the work in which we are engages and our deeds of Christian service- not that observers might commend and praise us but that they might turn their lives toward him who is the source of conviction and the personification of goodness.

’Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye should hold up -that which ye have seen me do’ (3 Nephi 18:24).

Christ is the Light. We are at best lamps, dim reflections of him. But to the degree that the light of his Spirit shines in our souls, to the degree that his image is in our countenances, to the degree that our good works motivate others to sing the song of redeeming love and glorify God, we are in the line of our duty as disciples.“ (An Eye Single to the Glory of God, pp. 47, 49-50.)”

“Blessed Be He That Shall Bring This Thing to Light”

In the strictest sense this refers to Joseph Smith. (See commentary on verse 25.) In a broader sense it refers to President Ezra Taft Benson, who has done as much as anyone in this dispensation to promote serious reading and reflection and study of he Book of Mormon. Further, it refers to missionaries and other Church members who preach from and bear witness of the Book of Mormon to those in the world who desperately need its light and life.

Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 4

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