Working in construction management has helped this week’s devotional speaker better understand how to stay on the covenant path. Neihlee Muir is the construction projects manager at BYU-Idaho. In her devotional address, she shared a practice in construction known as Critical Path Method, or CPM.
“In a CPM schedule, each task or activity is carefully planned with predecessors and successors,” Muir said. “The sequence of activities in a schedule is dependent on the completion of the step that proceeds it.”
This method is shown in the scriptures when Nephi is commanded to build a boat, she said. Before he built the boat, he had to make tools. To make tools he had to smelt ore. In order to smelt ore he had to build a bellows and find the ore.
Muir taught that this path was specifically laid out by the Lord so Nephi could achieve what the Lord required of him. Through focus and following the exact steps given, the seemingly impossible task of building a ship was possible.
In the process of building the ship, Nephi had to overcome obstacles, such as his brothers not cooperating. Muir told students they will also face non-critical obstacles in life that could prevent them from reaching their goals.
“There's so many things that are thrown at us every single day,” Muir said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, “and it seems to be critical because it's the fire that needs to be put out right this moment, but oftentimes we can allow those fires to overtake everything. And before we know it, we've pushed out the things that are truly critical.”
Muir taught in her devotional the things that are truly critical in life are covenants. They will guide and protect followers of Christ, keeping them secure on the covenant path. Just as construction workers wear a harness to prevent falling when working high off the ground.
“Our covenants can become our spiritual safety harness,” Muir said. “As we have faith in Jesus Christ, repent, make and keep our baptismal and temple covenants, partake of the sacrament, pray, and endure to the end, we tether ourselves to Jesus Christ and to His power. Walking the covenant path does not mean we will never slip. It means that when we do, repentance makes rescue possible.”
Find live devotional addresses and see past ones on the BYU-Idaho devotional website.