Jesus is the Christ

With the new year almost upon us, I thought it was time to return to this blog and begin making some entries of things that have been weighing on both my mind and my heart. 

A few years ago, while my husband and I were in New York City, we attended a Young Single Adult LDS Ward in Manhatten. The topics for that sacrament meeting were taken from the October General Conference we had a few weeks prior and all of the speakers were very thoughtful and doctrinally sound in their talks. The thoughts of one young speaker, however, really left an impression on me. 

This young speaker began by stating she had a question she had derived from a couple of the talks given at General Conference. One of the General Conference speakers, an Elder Christensen, Presidency member from the Seventy, taught that the Lord expects us to know for ourselves those things that are true. The talk he gave is entitled, "I Know These Things of Myself". Then she said, in the same General Conference, she heard another speaker offer a statement she felt was contradictory and seemed to conflict with what Elder Christensen said. It was a statement given by President Uchtdorf, who said, "God knows something we don't--things that are beyond our capacity to comprehend!" A brief review of these statements led this young speaker to the following question: "Why would the Lord encourage us to know for ourselves those things that are true, when He knows full well there are some things we will never know in this lifetime, a knowledge only God Himself will know?" It was an interesting question.

She followed it up with another question and an observation. She went on to say that perhaps there is only a certain kind of knowledge we need to know in this lifetime. If so, then what knowledge would that be?  Her conclusion was simple. What we need to know in this lifetime is that Jesus is the Christ and He is the Only One who can save us.  

"We work out our salvation. But we work it out through Jesus Christ, and not independently of him. We do not save ourselves. We but avail ourselves of the means of salvation provided by our Lord and Savior." Orson F. Whitney

"Sometime, somewhere, the knowledge of the Lord shall come to every soul with saving or convicting effect; then every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God." James E. Talmage

"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." John 20:31

As we prepare to enter the New Year, may we have a greater desire to build on the knowledge that we have of this Jesus the Christ. I know that He lives and that He loves us, and I look forward to seeing what other things He would have us know about Him. 

Have a Blessed New Year Everyone!