In 3 Nephi 28, Jesus asked each of His Nephite disciples, "What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?" Nine of them said, "We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, may have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom." The other three, while they didn't say it out loud, "desired that [they] might bring the souls of men unto [Christ], while the world shall stand."
You can see the contrast between the blessings given to each group depending on their desires. To the nine, the Lord said, "ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest." To the three, the Lord said, "ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men...And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father. And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world...ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am..." (you could say that the three were “purified even as he is pure” - see Moroni 7:48)
Each of the twelve disciples received a promise of some level of exaltation. I think it is fair to assume that none of them had any such promise before this meeting with Christ. If that was the case, I find it extremely significant that the three Nephites, above all other things including their own exaltation, desired to bring souls to Christ. And so Christ equipped them to do just that to a degree far above the capabilities of anyone else in scripture, besides John the Beloved who was presumably similarly equipped. You only need to look at the rest of the chapter to see how the three Nephites were given such grace as to be capable of blessing "all people upon the face of the land" in that generation.
To me, this means that the concept in Matthew 16:25 ("whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.") matters a great deal even when you're at the point when you're in Christ's presence and you can ask anything from Him. Even at that point, the choice of whether to seek your life or whether to lose it is still in front of you. The desires you have when you are face-to-face with the Lord will determine the choice you make to either seek your life or lose it, and that choice can make all the difference in the world. The Lord called both groups of disciples “blessed” because of what they desired. Each of the twelve disciples made a very good choice that day. Of course, the three were “more blessed” as it seems that they chose the “more excellent way” of charity - the path of serving at all costs, without thinking of where or when they would have rest in a kingdom of glory.
Zion has been an important topic lately. Will Zion be established because we seek Zion as a place of rest? Or will Zion simply be a by-product of the desire to serve and bless in perfect love? In the New Testament, only one apostle out of twelve desired nothing more than to bring souls to Christ. The result of the twelve apostles’ preaching was miraculous but ended in complete apostasy in a relatively short time. In the Book of Mormon, three disciples out of twelve desired nothing more than to bring souls to Christ (a slightly larger ratio). The result of those twelve disciples’ preaching was even more miraculous and the peace established in that generation actually lasted a few centuries. Is there a causal relationship between the desires of the Lord’s chosen vessels and the type or quality of society established by them? How many centuries of peace on Earth do we hope our posterity will enjoy? What are our desires as disciples of Christ? Do those desires match up with the great and marvelous work of the last days? If our desires fall short of the actual “pure love of Christ,” but we recognize that that love is something we want in us, how do we obtain it?
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.” (Moroni 7:48) While anyone can certainly ask for charity at any time, please consider the invitation at fastforcharity.blogspot.com as an immediate opportunity to offer up a united petition to God.
