Come unto Christ

I have realized that as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I have been as guilty as any member of any religion can be. I can falsely assume that my activity in the church is my saving grace and that which qualifies me.  It is not.

Being an active member of the church can allow me to have experiences in which I come to know and have a testimony of and faith in my Savior and His healing power to redeem me, but it isn't my activity that does that. I can be actively engaged and still not actually have faith in and rely on His saving grace.

My involvement in my religion is just a means to that end, which is what I believe is meant by "enduring to the end." It is my relationship, faith, and trust in Him which allows His atoning sacrifice  to redeem me. 

I am grateful that each week I can go and worship and be reminded of His ultimate sacrifice on my behalf. I am grateful that I have scriptures which testify of Him and help me feel His love and increase my desire to serve Him. It isn't even my service that will save me. It is just a way to feel closer to Him as I love the people He loves and as I do what He wants me to do. My works only increase my love and dependence on Him and helps me feel His presence.

Light

In the last few days, the message of bringing light into a darkened world keeps showing up for me. It reminded me of this sampler from my primary years as a child in the 60's.

My sampler is long gone but today I reflected on the message of that sampler and how profound it is.

I want to be like the stones that the brother of Jared used to light the vessels as they crossed the ocean. I want to be the light in a ever-increasing darkened world.

I want to be the light of the kind of love and compassion that the Savior brought into this world. No, He didn't condone sin and he was especially hard on those who vainly just lived the letter of the law and judged others if they didn't. He also stood up strong and forceful to those who would defy the holiness of the temple and everything it stands for.

Because I am weak and imperfect, I need to draw upon His grace in order to be His light. Please don't ever judge Him or His gospel by my weaknesses or the imperfections of other members of His church because we are all imperfect. But please, look to His light. The light of love and goodness. We need more goodness and I am striving to be a reflection of goodness.

I want to give thanks to all those people in my life who are the light--who share His light with me. I am surrounded by incredibly Christ-like people who reflect His light.