Pondering

 I have found that I am often asking myself how I can focus more on the Savior during this exciting, beautiful time of year? After all, He is the reason we celebrate.

I pondered this in my sacrament meeting last week. His miraculous and humble birth and His selfless life were significant for the entire world. I searched my heart as I pondered the question “What does Christ’s life mean to me?” The answer came quickly.

 

When I cry, he listens

When I hurt, He soothes. When I love, He fills my soul. When I serve, He rewards with fulfillment. When I fail, He helps me try again. When I ache, He comforts. When I’m lonely, He abides with me. When I worry, He brings peace. When I wander, He follows watchfully. When I’m lost, He leads me. When I return, He welcomes. When I’m in danger, He protects me. When I forget how important He is to me, He waits and gently reminds. When I repent, He forgives. When I rejoice, He rejoices with me.

Beauty of His Life

Those are just a few things that came to mind as I searched for my answer and I realized just how active He is in my life, even when I am not doing my part very well. I was filled with a deep gratitude for my Savior.

With the beauty of what He brings to our lives, it is no wonder that the prophets of old rejoiced in the hope of His coming.

A righteous man by the name of Simeon was promised, “…by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” He was inspired to go to the temple where he found Mary, Joseph, and the babe. We read in Luke 2: 28-32 “Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”

As we look for Christ, do we rejoice with gratitude for all the blessings that come from having the gospel of our Lord and Savior? For being able to make covenants in the temple for ourselves? For knowing what we can look forward to and whom we can call on for help in times of need and in times of plenty? Do we recognize that we are now awaiting the glad tidings of joy when He will return for the second time?

Honoring Christ

We honor our Christ by emulating His life and spreading the love and light that He brought to us.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said of the Christ, “No sign, no work of art, no representation of form is adequate to express the glory and the wonder of the Living Christ. He told us what that symbol should be when he said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15.) As his followers, we cannot do a mean or shoddy or ungracious thing without tarnishing his image. Nor can we do a good and gracious and generous act without burnishing more brightly the symbol of him whose name we have taken upon ourselves.” 1

No other man could have walked through mortality and have accomplished what He did. No one else but our God could walk sinlessly upon the face of the earth. No one, but Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and Redeemer of Mankind, could have descended into the depths of hell and bear every sin and every affliction on behalf of every person who needed this mortal experience.

It is with deep gratitude and awe at His divinity that I recognize His most incredible sacrifice. Without Him, the light of hope would be extinguished, and this mortal sojourn would be meaningless. I thank my Father in Heaven for His Perfect Son and feel in my heart to praise and glory in Him forever. His name truly is Wonderful.

1. “The Symbol of Christ”, Gordon B. Hinckley, April 1975 General Conference