It seems to me that the essence of our lives is distilled down to these two brief elements in these opening scenes of the Savior’s mortal ministry. One element is the question to every one of us, “What seek ye? What do you want?” The second is his answer as to how to get that. Whoever we are and whatever our problems, his response is always the same, forever: “Come unto me.” Come see what I do and how I spend my time. Learn of me, follow me, and in the process I will give you answers to your prayers and rest to your souls. Beloved friends, I know of no other way for you to succeed or to be happy or to be safe. I know of no other way for you to be able to carry your burdens or find what Jacob called “that happiness which is prepared for the saints” (2 Ne. 9:43). That is why we make solemn covenants based on Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and that is why we take upon us his name. In as many ways as possible, both figuratively and literally, we try to take upon us his identity. We seek out his teachings and retell his miracles. We send latter-day witnesses, including prophets, apostles, and missionaries, around the world to declare his message. We call ourselves his children, and we testify that he is the only source of eternal life. We plead for him to swing open the gates of heaven in our behalf, and we trust everlastingly that he will, based upon our faithfulness. My desire for you is to have more straightforward experience with the Savior’s life and teachings. Perhaps sometimes we come to Christ too obliquely, focusing on structure or methods or elements of Church administration. Those are important and, like the tithes of mint and anise and cummin Christ spoke of (see Matt. 23:23), should be observed—but not without attention to the weightier matters of the kingdom, first and foremost of which is a personal spiritual relationship with Deity, including the Savior, whose kingdom this is. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught in the Lectures on Faith that it was necessary to have “an acquaintance” (that’s his phrase) with the divine attributes of the Father and the Son in order to have faith in them. Specifically he said that unless we believe Christ to be “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness”—unless we can rely on these unchanging attributes—we will never have the faith necessary to claim the blessings of heaven. If we cannot count on “the excellency of … character” (that is also his phrase) maintained by the Savior and his willingness and ability to “forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin,” we will be, he said, “in constant doubt of salvation.” But because the Father and the Son are unchangeably “full of goodness,” then, in the words of the Prophet, such knowledge “does away [with] doubt, and makes faith exceedingly strong” (Lectures on Faith [1985], 41–42).
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 07:38:51 +0000
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