Tic Tac, Oreo, or Cake? The Choice is Yours!
Come Follow Me August 24-30
Mormon, at the age of ten, was given a mission by the prophet Ammaron to observe the people. After approximately fourteen years he was to record those observations on the plates of Nephi. His mission was to preserve those records for our generation. He lived in a constant state of war and in the end, witnessed the entire destruction of the Nephites. His mission, was to provide this generation with incontrovertible evidence of the consequences of following eternal laws.
The Book of Mormon details the consequences of following or disobeying these laws. The message of the Book or Mormon is that, following Jesus Christ is the only way back to the Father. If we obey God, we will prosper. If we disobey, we will be destroyed. Mormon, while writing the account of Helaman’s people, makes this observation about the nature of man.
“O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; … how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths! Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth. For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God. …Yea, behold at his voice do the hills and the mountains tremble and quake.”
Book of Mormon, Helaman 12:4-9
Except for man, everything obeys God’s laws. We have been given the agency to obey or not. However, we are not allowed to choose the consequence of our actions.
No matter where you live on earth, whatever race, religion, political party, or age you are, we must all agree, if it rains, whatever is not covered is going to get wet. It is an absolute truth.
President Spencer W. Kimball taught that absolute truth cannot be “altered by the opinions of men. . . . If men are really humble, they will realize that they discover, but do not create, truth.” Many claim that truth is relative and that there is no such thing as divine law or a divine plan, added President Nelson. “Such a claim is simply not true. There is a difference between right and wrong. Truth is based upon the laws God has established for the dependability, protection, and nurturing of His children. Eternal laws operate in and affect each of our lives, whether we believe them or not.”
The Love and Laws of God
By President Russell M. Nelson
I gave an object lesson to our family once on agency. I set out a tic tac, an Oreo, and a beautiful cake representing the Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial kingdoms. I asked which one they would like to have. Of course, they all chose the cake. Who would settle for a tic tac or oreo when you had the option of cake? Unfortunately, Satan is always presenting the tic tac as the cake and the cake as the tic tac. Our human nature is to live tic tac laws and expect cake results.
Tic Tac Candy 
Oreo 
Cake
“All kingdoms have a law given; … And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions. … For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory. And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory. And he who cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory.”
D&C 88:36, 38, 22-24
It may be our nature to choose the tic tac, but we are meant to eat cake! Too many see perfection as an impossibility. All that is required is to keep moving forward one step at a time. It doesn’t matter where we are on the path. When we get off, and we all do, get back on. No one, no matter what we have done, is denied access.
“We have to become perfect to be saved in the celestial kingdom. But nobody becomes perfect in this life. … We begin to keep the commandments today, and we keep more of them tomorrow, and we go from grace to grace, up the steps of the ladder, and we thus improve and perfect our souls. …As members of the Church, if we chart a course leading to eternal life; if we begin the processes of spiritual rebirth, and are going in the right direction; if we chart a course of sanctifying our souls, and degree by degree are going in that direction; and if we chart a course of becoming perfect, and, step by step and phase by phase, are perfecting our souls by overcoming the world, then it is absolutely guaranteed—there is no question whatever about it—we shall gain eternal life.”
Jesus Christ and Him Crucified
Bruce R. McConkie
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
September 5, 1976
This week chose one little thing to stop or start doing that brings you closer to choosing cake.
I love the visual of the tic tax, Oreo and cake. Great analogies. And now I’m hungry.
The analogy of the Tic Tac, Oreo, and cake reminds me of Isaiah’s warning: “Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (2 Nephi 15:20.) We could add, “Wo unto them that call a Tic Tac a cake, and a cake a Tic Tac, that call a telestial life celestial, and a celestial life telestial.” And yet increasingly that is the world we live in.
Please keep up the inspiring writing! It’s a bright spot to read each week, especially with the big hole left by the absence of regular church meetings.
Thank you for your insight! We lead busy lives, to be able to stop and read an inspiring message today, I needed it!
Thank you Lori for taking the time to write and post these insightful inspiring and articles!