Next time you sing the hymn “I Know That My Redeemer Lives”, pay close attention to the words in the chorus of the third verse. The hymnbook says “He lives, my mansion to prepare”, but I can almost guarantee (from 23 years of experience with this hymn) that at least one member of your congregation will sing “mansions”. Same for “Have I Done Any Good?”. Someone will say “Then dream of your mansions above.”
This is a phenomenon I’ve recently observed, and it’s got me thinking about a sense of entitlement many of us may have. We can’t be content with a single mansion– we assume more than one mansion is being prepared for us, and we dream about them all. Why is that?
I talked to a lot of people on my mission who had a big sense of entitlement. People think the world owes them a living, and absolutely no work is required in return. Well, Sonny Jim, I’m here to tell you the world owes you nothing, and nothing good in this life comes without work. We are expected to collapse at the foot of the (single) mansion that is being prepared for us, conditional on our dedication to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lehi has so much good stuff to say about that.
So what’s my point? My point is first that I think it’s really funny we all sing about our mansions, even though that’s totally not what’s printed on the page. Next point is that it’s really easy to get into a trap of thinking we deserve things, and assuming we’re going to be given great rewards. But that just won’t do.
My invitation to us all (especially me) is to focus on BEING GRATEFUL for even the glimmer of hope of a possibility of a studio apartment in Christ’s neighborhood in the next life. With an attitude of gratitude, rather than a sense of entitlement, we can overcome this problem that plagues our generation. I invite us all to be grateful for the little things. I know that as we are, we will become more aware of the Lord’s hand in our lives, and we will come closer to Him and His Son. This will help us prepare for the time when we get to those mansions above.