Ridding Ourselves of Sin

Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy gave a talk entitled, "The Sting of the Scorpion," and his talk was awesome! One, because its a cool story with a good principle behind it, and two, because this man's accent is EPIC! Here's the link, check it out before you read on....
https://lds.org/youth/video/sting-of-the-scorpion?lang=eng

C'mon, you have to admit that his accent is cool. How true is that story though? How often do we disregard what the Lord says to do and we trudge our own path? How often do we ignore what our parents have told us to do and we just do our own thing? How often do we fall short and get "stung" by the adversary? I do this so much! I remember one time we were out on the boat as a family down at Lake Mead. I had been taught how to kneeboard prior to this trip down to Mead, and I thought that I had figured out the way to do things best. My way. I was taught to put the knee strap on loosely so that I could squirm right outta the board if I wrecked and at first that's what I did. I would wear the strap loose and over time, I got a little cocky and decided that I would tighten the strap so that it fit snugly around my knees. By tightening it, you can cut across the water easier and you have more control, but this should only be done after a lot of practice. After a few runs with the tightened strap I decided that my way was better. I disobeyed my father's counsel and I did things my way. Well, that day at Mead, I got "stung." I was riding the kneeboard with my tightened strap and I caught an edge and I ate it. Hard. I ended up under the water with the kneeboard upside down and my knees were still strapped to the board, so that the only thing above the water was the bottom of the knee board. I was in such a panic that I forgot how to get the strap undone and I thought I was gonna die there. When Dad came back around in the boat, he dove into the water and swam out to me and saved my life. I'm grateful for his sweet Baywatch skills. My Mom likes him for his sweet skills haha. After this talk, I was reminded of this experience of when I rebelled against what my father told me. I was "stung" and paid the price for being disobedient. I know that all of us have disobeyed our Heavenly Father. I also know that there has been a way provided to become clean again; there is help and healing. Our Savior has provided the way for us to be saved, just as I was saved that day by my father. I know of consequences of sin. I know of the guilt and the pain that it brings. I also know of the healing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is real. He has provided a perfect way for us to return to live with him again. We must do all that we can to completely rid ourselves of sin. We must make the decision now to obey what we have been told. May we all strive to be more obedient and to put on our shoes instead of flip-flops.
I Stand All Amazed...at the saving grace of Christ, our Lord.