Well folks, I hope all is well in the good ole states. It´s funny...everyone here points out how country I am even without me saying anything about it....and when I speak in english, they immediately say "Surenio". haha That is someone from the south. So not a whole bunch happened this week. Just a whole bunch of working, divisions, and service to other missionaries.
I tell you, not a whole lot happened this week, but I did learn something that I feel is VERY important in this life. "We have to learn not to think with our minds, but with our hearts....always. Our minds are of the world, and there is nothing we can do about that. Our souls....our hearts...those are of Jesús Christ, so they KNOW what is best and what we want, not our minds." I want everyone to think about that and ask yourself, what do you think with?
"Lord, but why?"
As members of the Church of Jesús Christ, we have a sacred responsibility to do all that the head of our church, the Lord Jesús Christ, has called us to do. Many times, we asume that that means just following the commandments to the best of our abilities. Other times, we asume that means keeping the commandments and fulfilling our calling. What is it really that we´re called to do for the Lord?
I´m certain that every one of you at one point or another has asked yourself "Am I following the right path in life? Am I allowing the pure Love of Christ to flow through me, in return, carving a river in my heart for me to follow? Or am I digging my own river with a shovel? Leaving my river crooked and leading to nowhere?" These are questions that we should be asking ourselves regularly. Are we allowing the Savior to guide us? Or are we running the race of life in absolute darkness?
Jesús taught "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls."1 This is one of my favorite scriptures of the Bible because the Savior speaks very clearly. "Take my yoke upon you." Many times as Christians we feel that once we are baptized that all will be well and life will be like a fairytale, a walk in the park, or a still day on the lake. Then, when things don´t go our way, we question what we know to be true and perhaps even our testimony of the love of Christ and the Father. "Take my yoke upon you." What does Christ mean by this? For those of you who don´t know, the "yoke" Christ is referring to is an oxen yoke. It is a big piece of Wood that locked the heads of two oxen together so that they could work together to haul a load. The Word "yoke" could also be translated as "burden" leaving the scripture to say "Take my burden upon you", but that´s not what the Savior is saying! He is telling us to fight the battle against evil WITH HIM! To not walk alone in the wilderness, but to march to war hand in hand with Christ, with HIS banner in our hearts. We are to work with Christ to help "to bring to pass the immortality of man"2 Then we will "find rest unto out souls."
You might be asking yourself, "How do I do that exactly?" I think a good place to start is faith. The Bible Dictionary defines faith as "To hope for things which are not seen, but which are true." Primarily, we have to realice that just because we can´t see the fruits of our labor, doesn´t meanthey aren´t true. Faith is to have a complete confidence in something or someone. We have to put our trust in Christ and HIS work. We have to have confidence that we are fulfilling our responsibilities in the vineyard of the Lord.
Second, this is a great work of diligence. We are to "act in the office in which we are appointed, in all diligence. He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand."3 Brothers and Sisters, we HAVE to not only fulfill our callings but MAGNIFY them! If we are lazy with this work or view any aspect of it as "not important"...we won´t be counted worthy to stand before the Heavenly Father. About here is where many of you start thninking "But I magnify my calling?" Jesús taught "Be one, and if you are not one ye are not mine."4 That being said,maybe you ARE magnify8ing your calling, but that isn´t sufficient. We are to be one body, under Christ. If someone else isn´t magnifying their calling, we´re failing.If there is someone not progressing in the góspel and we aren´t doing anything about it...were failing. We have to do all taht we can to assist our brothers and sisters. It´s our DUTY.
Last, and most importantly, we have to realice that to accomplish this, we must put on the yoke of Christ...not for his sake, but for ours. Only then can we find rest for our souls. Some of you may think that you can´t do that, but the Savior goes on the reassure us that "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."5
The Lord never ceases to amaze me. It´s amazing to me how much we can learn from so Little of his words if we truly meditate and pray for understanding. I pray that each of you will appreciate how much the Lord really did for us. He willingly diez for us. He willingly suffered pains and afflictions of every sort for us. He was rediculed and persecuted for us. Spit on, hated, and tormented...for YOU...for me. All he asks is that we show an ounce of faith in Him, be diligent in this work, and that we walk hand and hand WITH HIM through it all. These words of the Lord really are a testimony of his love. Christ wants to help us. We just have to make the first move and grab his hand. Why? Because he told us to hold on to the iron rod, which is Christ, and have joy.
I pray that each of you would learn to love the Lord with all of your being and to walk the way that he´s shown. That you would pause to lift up one another to find strength beyond our own. That you would shine as a beacon of hope and refuge to those that stand in need. This is my humble prayer, in the sacred name of Jesús Christ, Amen.
1) Mathew 11:29
2)Moses 1:39
3)Doctrine and Covenants 107:99-100
4)Doctrine and Covenants 38:27
5)Mathew 11:30
Know that I love and miss all of you. It wont be long now. Time is just a thing. ,) God bless.
Con amor,
Elder Jackson
No comments:
Post a Comment