More than anything else, my life revolves around my Savior. I want to be like Him. Every action I take in my life is taken with that at the forefront of my mind. Every aspect of who I am is tied to my faith in and love for Him. It's so deeply a part of me, that it's completely shaped my life. I would be a completely different person if not for my relationship with Jesus Christ.
I am a daughter of God. Heavenly Father is the father of my spirit. And Jesus is my older brother. He has a personal interest in me, and in each of us. Not only does He love us the way one sibling loves another, but He loves us as our Master, our Savior, our Lord.
Without Christ, none of us would have any chance to be with Him or our Heavenly Father again. No unclean thing can dwell in the Lord's presence, and no one in this life is perfect or without some degree of sin. Even the best people in the world are sinners. None of us are good enough to return to our Father's presence on our own.
The Lord has laws for a reason. There is a certain way we're expected to live. We can't be with our Heavenly Father if we don't abide by His laws. And if there is no punishment for a broken law, the law becomes meaningless. There must be justice.
But there is no one among us who is strong enough to take that punishment on our own. We sin every day, even just in small, seemingly inconsequential ways. All of those sins add up. Over a lifetime, the number of sins we commit - even the most good-hearted, righteous among us - adds up to an insurmountably huge amount. The cost is too much for us to pay alone. We require mercy if we're to have a chance at returning home to our Father.
Justice is necessary. But so is mercy. They seem to be at odds with one another.
That's where the Savior comes in.
Here is a parable that illustrates what I mean:
“Let me tell you a story—a parable.
“There once was a man who wanted something very much. It seemed more important than anything else in his life. In order for him to have his desire, he incurred a great debt.
“He had been warned about going into that much debt, and particularly about his creditor. But it seemed so important for him to do what he wanted to do and to have what he wanted right now. He was sure he could pay for it later.
“So he signed a contract. He would pay it off some time along the way. He didn’t worry too much about it, for the due date seemed such a long time away. He had what he wanted now, and that was what seemed important.
“The creditor was always somewhere in the back of his mind, and he made token payments now and again, thinking somehow that the day of reckoning really would never come.
“But as it always does, the day came, and the contract fell due. The debt had not been fully paid. His creditor appeared and demanded payment in full.
“Only then did he realize that his creditor not only had the power to repossess all that he owned, but the power to cast him into prison as well.
“ ‘I cannot pay you, for I have not the power to do so,’ he confessed.
“ ‘Then,’ said the creditor, ‘we will exercise the contract, take your possessions, and you shall go to prison. You agreed to that. It was your choice. You signed the contract, and now it must be enforced.’
“ ‘Can you not extend the time or forgive the debt?’ the debtor begged. ‘Arrange some way for me to keep what I have and not go to prison. Surely you believe in mercy? Will you not show mercy?’
“The creditor replied, ‘Mercy is always so one-sided. It would serve only you. If I show mercy to you, it will leave me unpaid. It is justice I demand. Do you believe in justice?’
“ ‘I believed in justice when I signed the contract,’ the debtor said. ‘It was on my side then, for I thought it would protect me. I did not need mercy then, nor think I should need it ever. Justice, I thought, would serve both of us equally as well.’
“ ‘It is justice that demands that you pay the contract or suffer the penalty,’ the creditor replied. ‘That is the law. You have agreed to it and that is the way it must be. Mercy cannot rob justice.’
“There they were: One meting out justice, the other pleading for mercy. Neither could prevail except at the expense of the other.
“ ‘If you do not forgive the debt there will be no mercy,’ the debtor pleaded.
“ ‘If I do, there will be no justice,’ was the reply.
“Both laws, it seemed, could not be served. They are two eternal ideals that appear to contradict one another. Is there no way for justice to be fully served, and mercy also?
“There is a way! The law of justice can be fully satisfied and mercy can be fully extended—but it takes someone else. And so it happened this time.
“The debtor had a friend. He came to help. He knew the debtor well. He knew him to be shortsighted. He thought him foolish to have gotten himself into such a predicament. Nevertheless, he wanted to help because he loved him. He stepped between them, faced the creditor, and made this offer.
“ ‘I will pay the debt if you will free the debtor from his contract so that he may keep his possessions and not go to prison.’
“As the creditor was pondering the offer, the mediator added, ‘You demanded justice. Though he cannot pay you, I will do so. You will have been justly dealt with and can ask no more. It would not be just.’
“And so the creditor agreed.
“The mediator turned then to the debtor. ‘If I pay your debt, will you accept me as your creditor?’
“ ‘Oh yes, yes,’ cried the debtor. ‘You save me from prison and show mercy to me.’
“ ‘Then,’ said the benefactor, ‘you will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will provide a way. You need not go to prison.’
“And so it was that the creditor was paid in full. He had been justly dealt with. No contract had been broken.
“The debtor, in turn, had been extended mercy. Both laws stood fulfilled. Because there was a mediator, justice had claimed its full share, and mercy was fully satisfied” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1977, pp. 79–80; or Ensign, May 1977, pp. 54–55)
We needed the Savior. He is our mediator. He came down and paid the price for all of our sins. He felt every bit of our pain, our joy, our sorrow, our guilt, our love. And I believe He felt those things for each of us individually. He took the punishment for our sins, so that we don't have to. Through Him, the payment for each of our sins is met, satisfying the demands of justice. And through Him, and His love for us, we are given the gift of mercy. All we have to do to take advantage of His merciful act is to repent of our sins. To be truly penitent, make it right, and try to never do it again.
Repentance is certainly not always easy. Sometimes it may seem almost impossible. But that's not the case. Repentance is possible. It may be painful. It may be difficult. But Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to succeed in repenting. They want us to take advantage of Christ's sacrifice and be washed clean through the His atonement. They will help us, support us, and give us the strength we need to repent.
I'm so incredibly grateful for that. If it weren't for the possibility of repentance, there is no way I could spend eternity with my family. There's no way I could be with my Heavenly Father or Jesus again. There's no way I could be freed from the burden of my sins. I wouldn't be able to really feel peace, or joy. I would be buried under a mountain of my own guilt.
What would even be the point of trying to live a righteous life? No matter how hard I try, without the atonement, there's no way I can make it. So why even bother? What's to prevent me from doing horrible things and becoming a horrible person? Nothing. Without Christ's sacrifice, my life would become meaningless.
But it's not meaningless. My life is beautiful. It's joyful. It's full of light and goodness, because my Savior loves me so much that He stepped in and satisfied the demands of justice on my behalf. He extended me mercy. He did it at great cost to Himself. I can only imagine the agony He must have felt when He suffered not only for me, but for every person who ever has or ever will live.
He was perfect. He didn't have to do it. He was the one person who lived a perfect life. He could get to heaven all on His own. The only reason He did it was because of His love for each of us.
For those who don't feel like they can really relate to what I mean, here's another story that I love.
****
There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending school in Utah. In this school Seminary classes are held during school hours. Brother Christianson taught Seminary at this particular school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother Christianson's Seminary class.
Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he
would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over.
One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class,
Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"
Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."
Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"
Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."
"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."
"Do you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.
"Well, I can try," said Steve.
"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do
it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother Christianson said.
Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."
Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Brother
Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts,
they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited-it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.
Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"
Cynthia said, "Yes."
Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia
can have a donut?"
Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk.
Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.
Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?"
Joe said, "Yes."
Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?"
Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.
And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their
donut.
And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott.
Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"
Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"
Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."
Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."
Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"
Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"
Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.
Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets
because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little
perspiration coming out around his brow. Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the
students were beginning to get a little angry.
Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"
Jenny said, "No."
Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve,would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.
By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut.
There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.
Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely. Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.
During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.
Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.
Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"
Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You can do them any way that you want."
And Bro. Christianson went on.
A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!"
Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."
Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him."
Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."
Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you
want a donut?"
"Yes."
"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly
and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's
arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.
The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?
Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."
Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she
doesn't want?"
Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda. Then Bro. Christianson turned to
the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?"
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Christianson , can I help him?"
Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten
pushups so Susan can have a donut?"
As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that
was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Brother Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ,
plead to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." With the understanding that He had done
everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died.
"And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."
****
Please, please, please don't leave your metaphorical donut uneaten. Christ suffered for your sins, whether you take advantage of that sacrifice or not. He did it for you. I plead with you to take advantage of His gift and repent of your sins. Otherwise, His suffering for you was pointless. His sacrifice on your behalf was meaningless. And considering what He went through to extend mercy to you, all because He loves you so much, it just seems wrong to throw His gift away.
I'm so grateful for my Savior. I love Him so much. I wouldn't be who I am without Him. He is the absolute center of my life. And on this day of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for Him more than anything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment