A Peculiar Treasure

As a young boy I had great interest in anything that had to do with treasures. I often found myself absorbed in stories and movies about hidden treasures, secret maps, and brave explorers searching for lost riches. When my brothers and I visited our grandparents who lived at the base of the Andes Mountains in Mendoza, Argentina, we would spend hours searching through the fields for shiny rocks. We would eagerly break the rocks open in the hope of discovering something very precious inside—only to find more glittering minerals but never any real treasure.

As we study the scriptures, we encounter the word treasure dozens of times—most often as a warning not to set our hearts upon riches or upon the fleeting things of the world. Yet among all those warnings about earthly treasure, there is one passage that reveals something astonishing: the Lord Himself speaks of us as His treasure. I speak of the moment when the Lord addressed the prophet Moses upon Mount Sinai and declared that His people would be a peculiar treasure unto Him if they would obey His voice and keep His covenant.

Our Heavenly Father’s greatest desire is for us to live with Him again and enjoy eternal life by His side. His work and glory are “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” In order to make this possible, He designed the plan of salvation⁠. He sent His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to break the bands of death and atone for the sins of the world. This sacrifice is the greatest expression of our Father’s infinite love for all His children. Above all loves, the love of our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, stands supreme—“greater love” has no man. As a part of our Savior’s love, He invites us to come unto Him, to choose Him. The risen Lord is the same who spoke upon Mount Sinai. The living Christ still calls a covenant people today.

In His benevolent teaching to Moses, the Lord established a pattern of application not only to the ancient children of Israel but to all those who desire to become His treasure—the Lord’s covenant people. That pattern includes two simple but powerful conditions: to obey His voice and to keep our covenants with Him. Then we will be a peculiar, or special, treasure; and as such we will be blessed, strengthened, and favored through the Savior’s atoning sacrifice.

President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Once you and I have made a covenant with God, our relationship with Him becomes much closer than before our covenant. Now we are bound together. Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in God’s heart. He has high hopes for us.” The same God who called the children of Israel calls us now—to become His covenant people, to rise above the ways of the world, and to receive blessings that only He can bestow.

Covenant faithfulness does more than identify us as God’s people—it empowers us to rise above the limitations of this fallen world. President Dallin H. Oaks has taught that obedience to God’s commandments is essential to rise above life’s challenges. Referring to the sacred covenants that bind us to our Heavenly Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ, he declared, “As we honor those covenants by keeping Their commandments and following Their plan of redemption, Their promised blessings enable us to soar to celestial heights.”

In modern revelation, the Lord provides a beautiful description of how we can know we are accepted of Him. He said, “Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me.” The Lord does not ask for perfection all at once; rather, He asks for honest and broken hearts, humble spirits, and a willing readiness to keep our covenants—even when it requires sacrifice.

Just as the treasures my brothers and I searched for were never found on the surface, becoming the Lord’s treasure and receiving His divine acceptance are not something casual or accidental. They require patient effort, faithful persistence, and sacrifice. We must be willing to lay aside lesser things—habits, ambitions, or comforts that distance our hearts from Him—so that we may offer ourselves wholly and without reservation. As we choose to follow prophetic counsel, even when it stretches us or feels inconvenient, we demonstrate our love for the Lord and show that we cherish Him above all worldly desires.

President D. Todd Christofferson taught that as we walk in faithful obedience to our covenants, there flows into our lives a “continual [stream] of blessings” from God—divine power that enables us to endure trials and even “convert tribulation into triumph.”

He explained that when we honor our covenants, three sacred blessings follow: “the promised fruits of obedience become evident, … the Spirit communicates God’s pleasure, [and] we can face life with hope … , knowing … we will succeed in the end because we have God’s promise to us.” This is part of what it means to be the Lord’s peculiar treasure. He not only claims us as His covenant people—He strengthens us, sustains us, and surrounds us with covenant power every step of the way.

I testify that as we obey the Savior’s voice and keep our covenants—even by small and quiet sacrifices each day—we will feel His love more deeply and receive His guidance more clearly. And because He lives, we can have the assurance that one day we will stand before Him and hear the words that matter most: that we are accepted of Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.