Ok, too many thoughts and too little time. So we had zone conference this week and it was so awesome. Our mission president President Porter is an amazing man. He talked about the sacrament and the atonement. Something that he said that really impacted me was that if you think about it, sacrament meeting is like a memorial service for the Savior. If you look at the sacrament table, it looks like a body underneath the cloth, presented on an alter. Sometimes we get too tired to go to church or have who knows what going on. If one of your closest friends died, would you miss their funeral because the super bowl was on? No, you would drop absolutely everything to go and show your love and gratitude for this person who is dear in your heart.
It should be the exact same way every Sunday when we get the opportunity to go to Christ’s memorial service. And even more, we get the opportunity to speak at the memorial service every fast Sunday when we can get up and express our love and gratitude for this man who gave up His life for us. I feel like we get so used to just having the sacrament be a weekly routine and just a part of going to church and we take it for granted. I know I do. But really think about it.
We get to take the bread, which represents his body. His body that He bled out of every pour while suffering for our worst pains and His body that was bruised and beaten and ripped to shreds, all so that we can be forgiven of our mistakes and our sins.
We get to drink the water, which represents His blood that dripped off His hands which had stakes nailed through them, so that He could lay upon that cross and still show his unconditional love for all of us and forgive those cruel men who had just given him the worst pain, and say, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do", so that He can show us unconditional love when we turn our backs on Him and cause Him heartache and grief with our rebellion.
I would like to invite all of us to never, ever take His ultimate sacrifice for us for granted. Imagine how it would feel to be Heavenly Father, to give up your only begotten child and to have to see Him go through so much pain, only to have the rest of your children take the sacrament and then check their phones to see what happened on Facebook in the last ten minutes. Or not show up to His memorial service because they have a cough and a running nose. We have no right to show that kind of disrespect to our SAVIOR like that. I have made a promise today to do all I can to appreciate and acknowledge His sacrifice every day for the rest of my life, and I would invite you to do the same.
I wrote this poem this week:
One day, one step, one breath at a time
No soul as rent in anguish as mine
Sins as scarlet as the blood shed that day
A terrible, horrible price did He pay
Guilt and sorrow ever abound
No relief in sight, only pain to be found
The daily struggle almost too much to bear
Only way I can do it is with Christ standing there
"Nearer my God to thee"
A heaven-sent, heart-bent, beg and plea
Here, O God, is my soul to take
The sacrifice has been made, there is no debate
He suffered, bled, and died for me
But a sinner, beggar, and liar I never cease to be
Repenting daily for all the big and little things
Sinning all the same, oh the shame that it brings
Christ I ask, "How can I be yours?"
"Oh child," He answers, "I'll be at the shore."
Like the rocks sitting there, always firm and steady
He is always waiting there, whenever we are ready
But like the tide, readily moving in and out
We come close then always to change our route
Sometimes drawing near, then others drawing back
But He will never leave, and that's an unchanging fact
I love my Savior and Redeemer and my only hope in this world is to live a life that He doesn't regret dying for.
-Sister Peardon
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