Jesus the Christ

Several months ago I took this invitation to heart:

I energetically encourage you to establish a personal study plan to better understand and appreciate the incomparable, eternal, infinite consequences of Jesus Christ’s perfect fulfillment of His divinely appointed calling as our Savior and Redeemer.

--Richard G. Scott, April 2010

I decided the way I wanted to come to understand my Savior's purpose better was to read Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. I have been eating away at it a little at a time every morning as I eat my breakfast.

As the Christmas season approached this year, I was searching for a way to make this Christmas a meaningful one for me personally, and decided I would finish the 550 pages by Christmas day. That has meant reading 10-15 pages a day instead of two. When I decided to make it happen, I knew it was going to be something I would really have to make an effort to do and that would be a sacrifice of my time... but as the case always is in situations like these, when I have tried to do something for the Lord, He has blessed me with an experience far greater than my sacrifice.

I am truly at a loss for words to describe what I have learned about the kind of Man Jesus the Christ is and why I am grateful He came to this Earth to minister, atone, and die for us. One of the realizations I am making is that all that our cherished Christmas music says about Him is a true description of who He really is... and if that is the case, what a wonderful, majestic, merciful God He is, and oh what reason we have to rejoice.

Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth.

Son of God, love's pure light radiant beams from thy holy face with the dawn of redeeming grace.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of righteousness! Light and life to all he brings. Risen with healing in His wings.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns. Let men their songs employ, while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains repeat the sounding joy.

I know more deeply that He lives. I know more of His greatness and majesty and love and mercy and how much we need Him. I love Him. I hope this Christmas season allows you to find a way to more fully come to know Him too.

Merry Christmas!