Unlock The Chains

“O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.” (2 Nephi 1:13). Many of us have often been tempted to assume that we could repent on our own, between just ourselves and the Lord, without involving our Bishop or anyone else. If the sins and mistakes have been small and, like flaxen cords, have only a light hold on us, then we may be right. But if we are encompassed about by thick, heavy chains, then we can strain and pray all day, but we will not be able to be freed from the chains until we have gone to the person who has the keys to unlock our chains. It is still up to us to change our behaviors and our desires and our approaches to our life and our relationship with our Heavenly Father, but if we are locked up in chains, then we don't ourselves have the keys to unlock them, and the Lord is only going to tell us that we must present ourselves to the servant to whom he has entrusted those keys. When we find ourselves locked in chains, our first step should be to seek out one who has the keys to unlock the chains. I know that the Lord has given His righteous servants the keys to unlock the chains in which we all sometimes find ourselves. I am so grateful that the Priesthood authority and keys have been restored to the earth so that we might not be trapped forever in the chains that bind us.