For the past month we have spent quite a bit of time and energy preparing for the new school year, making sure the kids had clothes that fit, backpacks, school supplies, registering at school, , etc. This is the time of year that people frequently ask children what they want to be when they grow up. As of yesterday: Hyrum wants to be an inventor, Noah says he wants to be Batman. I am excited to see where their lives take them. Sometimes decisions and circumstances change. I have no preconceived idea or hope of what these boys will be when they grow up, but I am daily focusing my efforts and attention on WHO they will be when they grow up. I want them to be kind, loving, honest, respectful, charitable, and hard working. Who we grow up to be is much more significant. Being a parent can sometimes be challenging, but having a goal of who we want to raise helps give me focus and direction. There are many experts who can tell me how to be a better parent, but I know that my family can have direct help from my Father in Heaven when I call on him in prayer.
The perfect example of parental guidance that we can follow is that of our Heavenly Father. His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children. His goal is our happiness. He wants us to return to our Heavenly Home. From the beginning of time, with Adam and Eve, he has taught his children His plan for our happiness and how we can return to him, but also gave us our agency to choose. He called Prophets throughout time to be his mouthpiece. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses were all called by God to teach God’s plan for them, call all people to repentance, and foretell of the fullness and fulfillment of God’s mercy in the coming of Jesus Christ.
Only a few years of Jesus’ earthly ministry are recorded for us to study today, so we know that every moment recorded was vital for our learning and understanding today. Jesus showed us how to live through his perfect example of love, conviction, humility, and unwavering faithfulness to doing God’s will. As he served those around him, he frequently said to “come follow me.” His disciples dropped what they were doing to obey his summon to ‘Come follow me’. Those who followed Jesus were able to witness his pure love and devotion to all of Heavenly Fathers children. Before he was crucified he rested his hands on the heads of twelve of his disciples and called them to be his apostles, or special witnesses of Him. He did not just preach and minister, but he organized His church in the order of God’s will and with his Priesthood power. The Church of Jesus Christ was organized with Prophets and apostles. He taught that there was one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. His church was not built on confusion or conjecture. The Church of Jesus Christ was built on a solid foundation of truth directly from the Son of God, with perfect order, and brought together with God’s priesthood power. Despite his perfect life he was often persecuted and mocked, yet he still was willing to take more upon him. In Matthew we read Christ’s words saying, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) In his last moments he became our Redeemer as he took upon himself our inadequacies and suffered the consequences of our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane. When teaching the people of Gideon Alma testified of Christ saying, “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” (Alma 7:11-12) Then on the cross he submitted himself to death to be our Savior, saving us from an eternal death and opening the door to exaltation and eternal life. Three days after he died he returned to show the wounds in his hands, feet, and side and prove to the world that death was conquered and through him we can all be saved.
Shortly after Christ ascended to the Father, his apostles and disciples tried to teach and testify of the good news of the Savior. As evident in the letters and epistles to the members of Christ's church in the New Testament, people had questions about the doctrines and commandments. The Apostles diligently tried to teach and testify the principles of the gospel but there was much persecution and as the apostles were being killed, it became more and more difficult for people to understand the fullness of Christ's gospel. Long before this time, Amos prophesied saying “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.” That famine was felt as Christ's words were forgotten, changed, and interpreted by men in a time that has now been named the Dark Ages. Christ's church had fallen and his words were only read by a select few that had been chosen by men, not God. Over time, great reformers came forward in an attempt to pick of the pieces of a broken understanding. Through much persecution and even death the Bible was finally distributed to be read by anyone and translated so people could understand it. Many truths that had been lost were found and several denominations were formed each gathering different pieces of truth and doctrine. But Christ taught that there was only one lord, one faith, and one baptism. In Luke we read that Christ taught that, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:27). In order to have the fullness of the Gospel and Church that Christ organized when he walked on the earth, it could not just be pieces of His word gathered by men. Christ’s Church needed to be restored by Him directly.
So, just like Moses, Noah, and Abraham; God called another Prophet to restore the fullness of his Gospel once again. God, the Father, and Jesus Christ appeared to the young Joseph Smith and spoke with him face to face. Through his life he was instructed and ministered to by God and angels, restoring all that Christ had organized during his ministry. The same organization, the same priesthood power, baptism, and Gift of the Holy Ghost were brought back to the earth. Now through modern revelation and God’s continuance to call His prophets to speak for Him, we can have all of our questions in life answered with proper authority. Many churches teach truth and can bring happiness in following the Savior but it is only in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that we can enjoy ALL that His gospel has available for us.
This is not a gospel of perfect people. This is a place for those that thirst for truth and knowledge. This is a place for the week and the suffering. When Christ invites us to come unto him, he does not pick and choose the best, but he picks each person and teaches them how to become their best. When Christ said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not” I know that he did not just mean the well behaved quiet children. He also called the children who talk too loud and sometimes throw things a few pew’s ahead. He is always inviting to Come Unto Him.
The testimony of Alma in the Book of Mormon: (Alma 36:12-)
“ . . .while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy. Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there.
But behold, my limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God. Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”
Alma taught his sons to learn from him. He taught the joys of the Atonement and
following the Savior. There are many people around us that need a hand to lift them up and point them to their Redeemer. We can be that hand and the light to show them the way. By sharing the good news of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ we are essentially handing them a life vest in hard times. As we strive to be the person that Heavenly Father sees in us, we can find peace and comfort in the knowledge that our loving father in heaven has restored His church led by prophets and apostles, with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.
No comments:
Post a Comment