Mom's Talk
Come Unto Christ
How Oft Would I Have
Gathered You
I love reading the Book of Mormon. I read every day, and
when I reach the end of Moroni, I begin again in First Nephi. I am not a
scriptorian by any means, but I learn a little bit more each time I read, and
each time, something touches my heart in a different way.
One of my favorite passages that I read is found in 3rd
Nephi Chapter 10.
This was during Christ’s second time speaking to the
multitudes after his death.
There had been hours of
silence, when the voice of Christ again
came .
4 O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who
are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are
of the house of Israel, how oft have I
gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.
5 And again, how oft
would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that
have fallen; yea, how oft would I
have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.
6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with
full purpose of heart.
I
love when I read that. And similar references are found in Matthew and Luke in
the New Testament, and in the Doctrine and Covenants
We
have hens. Years ago, we had both hens and chicks.I
used to enjoy watching that mother hen as she taught her little ones: how to
eat food and drink water, to scratch the ground for what might be hidden.When
anything startled that mother, she would make a certain clucking sound and
those chicks would come running to the safety of her wings. They would also
sleep under the warm cover of her
wings at night. She was their teacher, their refuge from the storm, their
safety. She would do anything and fight off anyone to protect them.
Jesus
Christ is there for us. As he said, “How oft have I gathered you….” “How oft would I have gathered you…” “How oft will I gather you…”
I
find that as we begin to make more of our own choices in life, we often think
that life will be like a class syllabus:If
we do this, and this, and this, we will be rewarded with the grade we worked
for.
A
+ B = C
Sometimes
life does work out that way.
But
sometimes, though we are obedient, we refine our lives, we repent and correct
our mistakes, the things we worked
for, we hoped for, we wanted and had envisioned for our futures do not work out
that way.
Sometimes,
we suffer consequences of our own choices.
Sometimes,
we must suffer the consequences of choices made by those we love.
Sometimes
illness strikes. That illness may be chronic and something we will have to live
with each and every day. Sometimes that illness will take our life, or the life
of someone we love very much.
Sometimes
a career comes to a halt.
Always
these experiences, these disappointments, these changes in course are part of
our process of learning to become more like our Heavenly Father.
We
have a choice when these adversities occur:
We
can turn away from Christ. We can allow our heartbreak and sadness turn to anger
and rebellion.
Or,
we can turn to our Savior, who is ready to gather us in His loving arms and
give us strength to find our way through to a new path.
Elder
Donald C. Halstrom said in a General Conference address in 2010:
“In
the most difficult circumstances of life, there is often only one source of
peace. The Prince of Peace, Jesus
Christ, extends His grace with the invitation
‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest’. He further promises, ‘My peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you.’”
He
continued:
“Throughout
the world and among the membership of the Church, there is great joy
and
great pain. Both
are part of the plan. Without one, we cannot know the other.
‘Men
are, that they might have joy’ and ‘…for it must needs be that there is an
opposition in all things’ are not contradictory; they are complementary. In
describing how he felt when he turned to the Lord, Alma the Younger said, ‘My
soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain.’”
Sometimes,
we are overcome with major trials. And then sometimes, we allow small matters
to become big.
There
is a story of Symonds Ryder
Heard
about the Church Met with Joseph
Smith and was so touched by that experience that he joined the church He was ordained an elder and
called to serve a mission In his call
letter from 1st Presidency they had misspelled his name by one
letter Caused him to
question his call and those who issued it chose
not to serve the mission fell away from
the church This soon led to hatred
and intense opposition toward Joseph and the church Symonds led an angry mob that pulled Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon
from their homes in the middle of the night where they were tarred and feathered
In
less than ten months, he went from eager convert to mob leader.
No
matter how big…or how small…the challenges, disappointments, offenses, and
sadnesses are in our lives, HOW we respond can reset the course of our life.We
can turn away, or we can turn to the One who loves us: Jesus Christ.He
is there, ever ready to gather us in His loving arms.
He
is there to heal our broken hearts.He
is there to give us strength to love and encourage those who may have hurt us,
or who disappoint us.He
is there to help us care for those who need our help.
There
was a story told by Phillip Allred in Meridian Magazine.
“A
group of young college students were helping measure range damage after a
wildfire raged across the prairie outside their university town. As they walked
over the expanse of blackened earth, they noticed a cluster of small smoldering
mounds. One of the volunteers was particularly interested in the unidentifiable
heaps and asked one of the more experienced range managers what they were.
“This
veteran of many range fires replied that he had seen this phenomenon on a few
occasions and suggested that the young man turn over one of the piles. He did.
To his great surprise, several sage grouse chicks ran out from under the
upturned mound. He was fascinated. How incredible, he thought, that these
little chicks had known to find and run underneath this mysterious shelter.
“The
young man asked what the mound was and how the chicks knew to take refuge
there. To his amazement, he was told that the smoldering heap was the remains
of their mother. When there is danger, the mother hen…calls out to her young
ones and stretches out her wings for them to run under and find protection in
her embrace.”
The
hen in the story was the only chance those chicks had for safety. She,
being willing to spare her own life, had gathered them up under her wings to
herself.At
the point of terrible pain and death, when she still might have saved herself,
she chose to stay through the ordeal.Just
as she literally uses her body to protect and save, Jesus Christ literally uses
his body to protect his children from spiritual destruction. Christ and his
Atonement are always available.
Our
youngest son, Nathan, chose to serve a full time mission. He left nearly four
years ago for ten weeks in the MTC and then to South Korea.
Second
week in the MTC, he started having horrible headaches tried everything drinking
more water cutting sugar (a
great hardship when the BYU Creamery brought treats weekly) Priesthood Blessings
I
received our Ensign during that time, and sent him the words of David A. Bednar
from a talk entitled “The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality.” These words
gave Elder Rice strength to endure those headaches that continued nearly every
single day in the MTC, in the mission field of South Korea, and even after he
returned home. The answers and help came months later, after he married and
went to Idaho for school.
Elder
Bednar said,
“Most
of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners.I
am not so sure, however, that we understand that the Atonement is also for
saints-for good men and women who are striving to become better and serve more
faithfully.We
may mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become
a saint all by ourselves, through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline…
“The
gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it is also
essentially about doing and becoming good.”
He
shared an example of one in the scriptures who knew and depended on the
Savior’s enabling power.
Nephi
and his brothers had returned to Israel to bring Ishmael and his household.
As
they returned to the wilderness, his brothers and others rebelled, tied him up,
and planned his destruction.Nephi
prayed, “O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me
from the hands of my brethren; yea even give me strength that I may burst these
bands with which I am bound”
Elder
Bednar points out:
“Nephi
did not pray to have his circumstance changed. Rather, he prayed for the
strength to change his circumstances.And
I believe he prayed in this manner precisely because he knew, understood, and
had experienced the enabling power of the Atonement"
And
so it was for Alma and his people being persecuted by Amulon.Alma
did not pray to have their afflictions removed.He
knew he was an agent of the Lord, and he prayed for the power to act and affect
his situation.Their
burdens were made to feel light so they could fulfill their responsibilities
with ease.It
says in Mosiah 3:19
“And
putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of
Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient,
full of live, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to
inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
And
Alma and his people “did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of
the Lord.”
The
Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us strength and power to do things that we NEVER
could do on our own.
Elder
Bednar concludes with these words:
“The
Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities, but also for the inequality,
the unfairness, the pain, the anguish,
and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical
pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that
you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not
experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, ‘No one
understands. No one knows.’ No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God
perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we
ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has
perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our
life. He can reach out, touch, succor-literally run to us-and strengthen us to
be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do
through relying upon only our own power.”
“How oft will I gather you as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me
with full purpose of heart.”
Testimony
Dad's Talk
Come unto Jesus
2-21-2016
You, me, and everyone in this world has the same desire: to
be happy; to enjoy this life. We think the same thoughts; those that make us
happy. We have the same dreams of what we think
will make us happy. But what is this happiness? Many people are very happy and
satisfied in the life they have and they do not feel the need to search more.
How do we know when we have reached the greatest happiness and joy that we can
obtain? I know I ask a lot of questions, it is how I find answers.
It is only when we have found comfort and peace in the in
the teachings, or of understand the teachings of our Savior in the way that our
Savior wants us to know, understand and demonstrate in our lives that we can be
truly happy. This is the message of the Gospel, which means Good News. As Paul wrote, “How shall they call on him in
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they
have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher.” Romans 10:14
I have heard, and I have believed, and I have called on our
Savior. My parents used to drop my sister and I off at a small Methodist church
located at 32nd Street and Roosevelt. The preacher there was kind
and did a lot of nice things for me. He gave me a set of pigeons and I raised
them. He taught me about Jesus and I
believed him. When I was eight years old, he gave me this Bible and I read it.
I learned to call on Heavenly Father and I said my prayers nightly. Maybe it
was just the faith of a kid, yet this faith carried me. Though my sister and me
did not attend that little church very often in our teen years, I still had the
faith which carried me for another nine years when the missionaries came to our
home and taught me and my family the gospel. The preacher was sent: Elders
Smith and Barber. And they gave me this Book of Mormon. I read it, and I called
on God to know if it was true. And, much like Joseph Smith, I knew that God
knew that I knew that the Book of Mormon is true and the word of God and I also
could not deny it without offending God.
This is my story of “Coming to Christ”.
Actually, this was the beginning of my testimony. There are
simple steps. Though simple, these steps do require desire, effort, hope and work
on our part and determination to finish..
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated in his talk “how to come
unto Christ”, that there are several steps for each of us to perform in order
to come to Christ. These steps are not complicated, yet, nonetheless, they do
require an effort on our part.
1.
First Step: We need to begin with a molecule of
faith. As Alma says, “If you can no more than desire to believe…” What can
cause us to desire to believe? Belief in Christ has to be something that we
want. The spirit touches us and makes us
feel good; it makes us feel right; it makes us happy. Happiness is an incentive
to want to believe. Alma says, “…exercising just a small particle of faith,
giving even a small place for the promises of God to find a home…” That is
enough to begin with. This is the first principle of the gospel: 1. Faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Suzzy and I are the Stake Baptism Coordinators, which is
a big word for you are in charge of preparing for and conducting the monthly
Stake 8 Year Old Baptismal Service, typing the program and afterwards, washing
the baptismal suits. We see these young boys and girls each month coming to be
baptized. They know what they are doing and they are happy. They do not have
doubts. They have been taught. They have felt good and they want the blessings
that come from making this covenant.
This brings us to the second
principle. Repentance.
2.
Second: Repentance is necessary, as it is what
changes us from the man I am to the man I should be. We must change everything
we can, including everything that was any part of the problem.
Elder Robert C. Gay, in 2012 stated, (quote) “…what the
Savior is asking of us: We are to give up all of our sins, big or small, for
the Father’s reward of eternal life. We are to forget self-justifying stories,
excuses, rationalizations, defense mechanisms, procrastinations, appearances,
personal pride, judgmental thoughts, and doing things our way. We are to
separate ourselves from all worldliness and take upon ourselves the image of
god in our countenances.” (unquote)
So are we to be
perfect? We are to be as perfect as we can. Christ spoke “Be ye therefore
perfect, even as I or your Father in heaven is perfect.” We can be as perfect
as we desire to be, through the means of repentance, effort, work and help from
the atoning sacrifice of the Savior. It
may not be easy, but it will be worth it. We will be rewarded in our journey
and we will become happy as we come to Christ. Repenting and giving up things
we enjoy are not easy. I say things we enjoy, because we want to be happy and
probably would not do incorrect things or have incorrect thoughts if we were
not rewarded in some way. That reward: for some it might be fun or pleasure,
for others it might be power or wealth or other desires. Whatever the reward it
is held as a means of leading us to continue in the incorrect actions. We will
have to develop the desire to not gain pleasure from them any more. But we ill
need to have Gods help to overcome them. Some things we cannot do on our own
and we may think “I did it all myself without Gods help” Our very difficult
weaknesses needs God’s help and God will help us in a way that we know that God
helped us to overcome. When we know that God helped us when we could not, that
will increase our conversion. Much like when ancient Israel was fighting their
enemies, God put them in situations where their enemies even 400 to one
outnumbered them order for them to know that is was God who saved them. The
people of Israel knew that God fought their battle and without God they would
have lost. As with our weaknesses we
will be lured repeatedly to enjoy them again and again as we build a hard heart
trying to do it ourselves. Moroni stated in the book of Ether. “If men come
unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that
they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men. My grace is
sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for it they humble
themselves before me and have faith in me then will I make weak things become
strong unto them” When we rely on God, we will build our faith, testimony and gain
confidence as we overcome. We will gain strength and, perhaps, we will come to
dislike our favorite sins when we realize what blessings they have kept us
from. They have kept us from spiritual growth, Godly learning, true happiness
and they have stolen our precious time.
I watched The Odyssey by Homer several times when I
was young, a spell binding movie of a man’s experiences and over coming trials
as Ulysses makes his way home after a war. One if Ulysses trails he becomes
overcome with pleasure while on an island and does not realize how many years have
passed by. He comes to his senses when he understands the waste of life giving
into distractions and pleasures. Ulysses overcame his weaknesses when realized
that his true happiness was to be back with his wife and family. We too may
come to realize the waste of time, effort, money, and our life when we are lost
in worldly adventures and not working towards perfection. For me, a lot of
growth came when I freed up time and used that time to read the scriptures and
other books written by our prophets. I have learned a lot. I have increased my knowledge and testimony
and conversion. I can say that it has changed my life for the better. Learning
of ancient people has given me a better understanding of human behavior. It is
easy to see the correlations, over time, of how the ancient Israelites,
Nephites, Jaredites, and those before the flood behaved, and how people behave
today. People really have not changed much we still have desires and want to
satisfy them. Some today still seek for the same Worldly or the same Godly
things.
3.
Third, we are to take upon ourselves His name.
We just had a season of worldly pleasure, excitement, pride, fun and
camaraderie. I saw it on the news and Facebook. Many chose which team to take
upon themselves. Many may have change names as this contest progressed to an
end, for this year, of course. There are rituals associated with taking their
favorite teams name upon themselves. Game attendance, shirts, feasts, devotion
to broadcasts are other ways people show allegiance. Elder Holland said (Quote), “There are ways
to take upon ourselves the identity of Christ and we begin by taking upon
ourselves His name. That name is formerly bestowed by covenant in the saving
ordinances of the gospel. These start with baptism and conclude with temple
covenants, with many others, such as partaking the sacrament, laced throughout
our lives as additional blessing and reminders.” (Unquote). As Nephi stated, “Wherefore, my beloved
brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart,
acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent,
repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take
upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your
Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye
receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost;
and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the
Holy One of Israel.” 2nd Nephi 31:13.
I cannot think of a better team to be
on. As Nephi stated, “…Follow the Son with full purpose of heart.” Lift others and share your experiences. Be the
“preacher” to bring others unto Christ. Elder Henry B. Eyring said, (quote) “Those who have truly come unto him, they
strive to become like him. They begin to try to do unto others as they know He
would do” (Unquote).
The late Marvin J. Ashton
shared this insight from an inspired leader: “The best and most clear indicator
that we are progressing spiritually and coming unto Christ is the way we treat
other people.”
Our Savior spoke of what behavior we should have. In the
Parable of the Sheep and Goats. 31 ¶When the Son of man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of
his glory:
32 And
before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
34 Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I
was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was
a stranger, and ye took me in:
37 Then
shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and
fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
40 And
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
me.
41 Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
43 I was
a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in
prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then
shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or
athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister
unto thee?
45 Then
shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not
to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And
these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal. Matthew 25:31 – 46.
What keeps me
believing? What keeps me motivated to come unto Christ? Just as Alma talked
about a particle of faith to desire to believe and to plant a seed, and to
nourish that seed we must do that. I found that for me to stay active in this
church, I had to continually nourish my testimony. A few months after being
baptized I found myself missing meetings and finding other things to do on
Sunday. I realized that I had quit reading the Book of Mormon. I started
reading again and I finished the book I have continued to read and the Book of
Mormon and other scriptures. We pray to talk to God, when we read his
scriptures God talks to us. I also received strength and desire by following
the prophet. Our prophet is God’s spokesperson on earth. It does not matter who
provides Gods direction to us as we must live by every word that proceedeth
from the mouth of God. If we receive this direction either directly from God or
the Prophet, it is the same. In addition to attending church the other way that
I feel like I am coming closer to Christ is by helping other, attending the
temple, paying my tithing and in a nutshell doing what God asks me to do. Am I perfect, no I am not. We are taught to be
perfect by our scriptures, our leaders and by the spirit which teacheth us.We
must listen and obey.
What does God
really want to give us? We must know in order to desire and to work for it.
What can happen to our society or us by taking upon us the
name of Christ? Several societies have
highly benefitted and others did not. The first record that we have of a wicked
society that came to Christ was the people of the City of Enoch. These people
started wicked and after receiving the gospel that was taught by Enoch, this
people became so righteous that the population of the City of Enoch was taken
from the earth. These people had the priesthood; they were taught by a prophet
and took upon themselves the name of Christ and came unto Christ. The city of
Salem was wicked and after preaching by Melchizedek, they came to Christ and
were also taken up. This group also had the priesthood and a prophet. Moses
understood that he was to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt to become
another righteous city to be taken up. Wonderful things happened to this
society, they had God’s hand protecting them, many miracles occurred, God met
with 73 of the Elders of Israel in a conference where they saw him. The people
asked to also see him. God was going to show himself to the entire camp of
Israel. Yet they could not leave their worldly ways and rebelled and told Moses
that they did not want to be in the presence of God. Not only were they not
taken up but instead had the higher priesthood taken away and you know their
story.
Could we have as an individual or society Come to Christ as
dearly as first two groups? Is this God’s desire for us?
Doctrine and Covenants 93:1 states “Verily, thus saith
the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and
cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my
commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;”.
Brothers and Sisters, the promise is
there. I cannot think of a greater motivation to Come to Christ and behold his
face. President Paige in last weeks Stake Conference stated that we couldn’t
have a testimony or conversion of a principle until we live the principal.
President Paige’s example was about elders not having a testimony of Home
Teaching. In John we read “If any man will do his will, he
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of
myself” John 7:17. We have examples to guide help us come unto Christ. Our
Savior has shown the example, lived the life, provided the incentives and has
rewarded us for coming unto him and taking upon ourselves his name.
Everyone here that is baptized used his
or her agency to take upon himself or herself the name of Christ and to come
unto him. If we are not there as yet, it is up to us to chose to start with the
desire and faith repent and improve and to take upon ourselves his name and come
to Christ. If we have lost our way, then so many times in the scriptures this
one word tells us what to do “remember”. Remember the testimony we once had if
lost, remember the wonderful witness of the Holy Spirit that let us know that
Jesus lives, he is our redeemer, He stands at the head of His church and
directs His work by his living Prophet.
I know that God lives, I have had too
many miracles in my life, too many answers to prayers. The more I learn the
more I know that this Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
is God’s Kingdom on earth. Christ has restored his Kingdom through the Prophet
Joseph Smith, restoring the priesthood, the keys and all things to act in God’s
name. I have a firm testimony that our prophet today is guided by our Savior
and speaks the words that our Savior wants him to speak. May we all come unto
Christ.
I say these things in the name of Jesus
Christ Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment