Lately I was reading the scriptures and I came to a realization that had never occurred to me before. After reading it I thought, “I don’t know where I have been my whole life.”  if this was always obvious to you don’t make fun of me,  but this is what I realized.

I was thinking of how famous people are labeled by the world as Stars. In thinking of that I thought of the craftiness of Satan in the way he has us switch the way we view things. We often say in life that we should “Reach for the stars”.

That makes us want to aim to Heaven that’s right. Aim high and dream and pursue what you would like to reach that seems impossible. The few great at gathering fame are also labeled as “stars”.

But in our Church we learn that once we die there will be three degrees of glory.

One will be the glory of the sun (which has its own three degrees as well). This Glory is the highest glory we can get. This kingdom is also referred to as the Celestial Kingdom. We are promised with this glory that we will be given all that the Father has.

The second one is the glory of the moon or terrestrial kingdom. And the last one is the glory of the stars or telestial kingdom.

We know that all three kingdoms will be better than the life that we now have. So we  know that even the glory of the stars will be a better state than the life that we now have. But I also know that there will be regret and gnashing of teeth there for a life not well lived in a manner in which God would want us to.

Satan is very crafty in doing this. We know that battle between good and evil is already lost. But Satan is constantly seeking to take down as many children as he can with himself while he still can. One method, is to have the children of men seek the glory of the stars instead. Think about how the world has structured it to where we should look at the so called “stars” for anything that we do in life. The way they live and do things, what they own, they all should be the same way that we all should live. In this set up, there is no God in the picture. It’s a game of fame and success where we look to other people instead rather than looking and turning to God for when we are in need. We look to a perfect status and situation to solve our lives problems and give us the impression that we have finally arrived somewhere and no longer need to improve or let alone look to God for any help. But in this game, we are also asked to compromise those things that would have helped us to actually achieve the glory of the Sun which is what we should actually aim for instead.

I am not trying to judge everyone that wants to be a star out there. We do know though that the way the world portrays success nowadays and becoming a star, often involves compromising a wide variety of standards. To almost everything we have left in ourselves if we can. So I find it interesting that to obtain this level and degree in life, the name chosen for, it is Stars.

So my message today, would be when thinking of what kind of success we want in this life to focus of what kind of fame we are looking for.

I want to end this by sharing this scripture found in the Book of Mormon. In this contest Moroni speaks to his son after telling him of all the bad things that were going on during their period in time:

Moroni 9:25

25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.