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| Source There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. Jesus Christ is the Way.... While the Lord’s invitation to follow Him is the highest of all, it is also achievable by everyone, not because we are able, but because He is, and because He can make us able too.... Every good thing depends on getting and keeping the power of the Holy Ghost in our lives. |
Jesus Christ, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. …
“In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” 1
He said, “I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I
am he, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world.” 2
He said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a
well of water springing up into everlasting life.” 3
He said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall
never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” 4
He said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” 5
He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
“And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
6
He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.” 7
Jesus Christ is the Way. He is Light and Life, Bread and
Water, the Beginning and the End, the Resurrection and the Life, the Savior of
the world, the Truth, and the Way.
There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. He is
the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way, is foolishness.
He offers a well of living water. Either we drink and never
thirst more, or we don’t and foolishly remain thirsty still.
He is the Bread of Life. Either we eat and hunger no more,
or we don’t and foolishly remain weak and hungry still.
He is the Light of the World. Either we follow Him and see
clearly, or we don’t and foolishly remain blind and in darkness still.
He is the Resurrection and the Life. He said, “The words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” 8 Either we learn
of Him and have life more abundantly, 9 or we don’t and foolishly remain dead
still.
He is the Savior of the world. Either we accept the
blessings of His Atonement and are made clean and pure, worthy to have His
Spirit, or we don’t and foolishly remain alone and filthy still.
He is the Way.
No Other God
“We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son,
Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” 10 The plan of the Father was implemented
by the Son that we may have the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. The way of the Father
is the way of the Son. He said, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 11
Only God can bless us. Only He can sustain us. Only He can
cause our hearts to beat and give us breath. Only He can preserve and protect
us. Only He can give us strength to bear up the burdens of life. Only He can
give us power, knowledge, peace, and joy. Only He can forgive our sins. Only He
can heal us. Only He can change us and forge a godly soul. Only He can bring us
back into His presence. And He will do all of that and much more if we but
remember Him to keep His commandments. What then shall we do? We will remember
Him to keep His commandments. It is the only intelligent thing to do.
Jesus Baptizes with the Holy Ghost
John the Baptist said that while he baptized with water,
Jesus baptized “with the Holy Ghost.” 12
Nothing in this life is of greater worth than the supernal
gift of the Holy Ghost. It is the source of joy, peace, knowledge, strength,
love, and every other good thing. With the Atonement, it is the power by which
we may be changed and made strong where we are weak. With the priesthood, it is
the power by which marriages and families are sealed together eternally. 13 It
is the power by which the Lord makes Himself manifest unto those who believe in
Him. 14 Every good thing depends on getting and keeping the power of the Holy
Ghost in our lives. Everything depends on that.
To that end, Jesus Christ entered a garden called
Gethsemane, where He overcame sin for us. He took upon Himself our sins. He
suffered the penalty of our wrongs. He paid the price of our education. I don’t
know how He did what He did. I only know that He did and that because He did,
you and I may be forgiven of our sins that we may be endowed with His power.
Everything depends on that. What then shall we do? We will “take upon [us] the
name of [the] Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he
has given [us]; that [we] may always have his Spirit to be with [us].” 15
Everything depends on that.
“My Yoke Is Easy, and My Burden Is Light”
One of the most popular and attractive philosophies of men
is to live life your own way, do your own thing, be yourself, don’t let others
tell you what to do. But the Lord said, “I am the way.” 16 He said, “Follow
me.” 17 He said, “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you,
even as I am.” 18
Don’t think you can’t. We might think we can’t really follow
Him because the standard of His life is so astonishingly high as to seem
unreachable. We might think it is too hard, too high, too much, beyond our
capacity, at least for now. Don’t ever believe that. While the standard of the
Lord is the highest, don’t ever think it is only reachable by a select few who
are most able.
In this singular instance life’s experience misleads us. In
life we learn that the highest achievements in any human endeavor are always
the most difficult and, therefore, achievable only by a select few who are most
able. The higher the standard, the fewer can reach it.
But that is not the case here because, unlike every other
experience in this life, this is not a human endeavor. It is, rather, the work
of God. It is God’s work and it is His “glory … to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man.” 19 There is nothing else like it. Not
anywhere. Not ever.
No institution, plan, program, or system ever conceived by
men has access to the redeeming and transforming power of the Atonement of
Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, while the Lord’s
invitation to follow Him is the highest of all, it is also achievable by
everyone, not because we are able, but because He is, and because He can make
us able too. “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind
[everyone, living and dead] may be saved, by obedience to the laws and
ordinances of the Gospel.” 20
The Lord’s way is not hard. Life is hard, not the gospel.
“There is an opposition in all things,” 21 everywhere, for everyone. Life is
hard for all of us, but life is also simple. We have only two choices. 22 We
can either follow the Lord and be endowed with His power and have peace, light,
strength, knowledge, confidence, love, and joy, or we can go some other way,
any other way, whatever other way, and go it alone—without His support, without
His power, without guidance, in darkness, turmoil, doubt, grief, and despair.
And I ask, which way is easier?
He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; … and ye shall find
rest unto your souls.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 23
Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never,
ever give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. You don’t quit, and
you will make it.
There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. Jesus
Christ is the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way is
foolishness.
I bear record of Him, even Jesus Christ, that He is the Son
of the living God, He is the Bread of Life, He is the Truth, He is the
Resurrection and the Life, He is the Savior and the Light of the World. He is
the Way, the only Way.
May we have the good sense to follow Him. In His holy name,
even Jesus Christ, amen.
References:
1. John 1:1, 4.
2. D&C 19:1.
3. John 4:14.
4. John 6:35.
5. John 8:12.
6. John 11:25–26.
7. John 14:6.
8. John 6:63.
9. See John 10:10.
10. Articles of Faith
1:1.
11. Exodus 20:3.
12. John 1:33.
13. See D&C 132:7, 19.
14. See 2 Nephi 26:13.
15. D&C 20:77.
16. John 14:6.
17. Mark 8:34.
18. 3 Nephi 27:27.
19. Moses 1:39.
20. Articles of Faith
1:3.
21. 2 Nephi 2:11.
22. See Moroni 7:15–17.
23.
Matthew 11:28–30.
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