Sharing the light Michael Christensen

We teach the words of Ether 12:27 often, but do we truly believe them? Hear a personal experience about weakness becoming strong.

This week, I interview my 8-year-old daughter for her thoughts on her recent baptism. We hear her advice for parents and youth and her testimony.

When children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reach the year they’ll turn 8, they get a special gift. You know the one. It’s that special ring with the green shield and three letters emblazoned across it.

The famous CTR ring. Of course, CTR stands for Choose the Right. And choosing the right, AKA, choosing to keep the commandments, is a pretty important thing in this life. But on this week’s episode of Sharing the Light, I want to talk about another choice that’s far more important and one that ideally comes first in our gospel journey.

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What’s your personal motive for keeping commandments? You may have many actually and they may vary with seasons of your life. The Savior gave us the ideal reason and His words are recorded in John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

At the heart of that verse is the principle we’ll talk about today. Because the most important choice you’ll make in this life isn’t a what or a when or a how, it’s a Who.

In the famous “Choose you this day” verse recorded in Joshua 24:15, Joshua didn’t talk about how we choose to serve or when we choose or even why we serve, he talked about who we serve. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.”

As you study the scriptures this year, particularly the Book of Mormon as our Come, Follow Me focus, you’ll find this simple idea taught again and again. Here’s a sampling:

2 Nephi 2:27: “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.”

Alma 3:26 tells us that our “eternal happiness or eternal misery” is determined by the spirit which we list to obey, whether it be a good spirit (Christ) or a bad one (the adversary).

And the next verse, Alma 3:27 adds: “For every man receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey.”

Alma 40:13 teaches a similar idea. So does Helaman 3:35, which tells us that our Gospel journey of coming unto Christ and being sanctified begins with “yielding [our] hearts unto God.”

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Why is this one single choice so important? Elder Neal A. Maxwell summed it up nicely: “If, in the end, you have not chosen Jesus Christ, it will not matter what you have chosen.”

Those words are true. If we don’t choose Christ, we can choose anything else, good or bad, and in the end, it won’t be enough, it won’t be right, and it won’t bring lasting joy or happiness to ourselves or anyone else.

If Christ isn’t in the picture, if he’s not the center of the picture, the picture is and will always be incomplete.

1 John 4:19 beautifully teaches of the Savior: “We love him, because he first loved us.”

Let me tell a simple truth. As I do, I pray the Holy Ghost will witness this truth to your soul. Here it is: Jesus Christ loves you.

And if you feel that love or desire to feel that love, choose to love Him. Choose to believe in Christ. Choose to believe in His sinless life, His atoning grace and His hopeful words: “I am able to make you holy” (D&C 60:7).

If you choose to accept Him and to love Him who first loved you, then that important choice will make it far easier to make daily choices that show you are choosing Christ. And you’ll find yourself making those choices for the right reason: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

A crazy but true story about a nervous breakdown, poisoned water and one wild missionary dinner appointment.

Merry Christmas. Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of Sharing the Light. My name is Michael Christensen. Your reviews and passing this along to family and friends is greatly appreciated.

I believe in Divine Design. In October 2017, Ronald A Rasband gave a General Conference talk by this title. In that message, he quoted Neal A. Maxwell as follows:

“None of us ever fully utilizes the people-opportunities allocated to us within our circles of friendship. You and I may call these intersectings ‘coincidence.’ This word is understandable for mortals to use, but coincidence is not an appropriate word to describe the workings of an omniscient God. He does not do things by ‘coincidence’ but … by ‘divine design’” (Neal A. Maxwell, Brim with Joy, Brigham Young University devotional, Jan. 23, 1996).

Said Elder Rasband: “Our lives are like a chessboard, and the Lord moves us from one place to another—if we are responsive to spiritual promptings. Looking back, we can see His hand in our lives.”

Elder Bednar has also taught this principle. In his book One by One, he said, “I believe that in the work of the Lord there is no such thing as coincidence,” And “Tender mercies … are frequently delivered one by one through the instrumentality or another person.”

Today, I want to share with you the events of one day I experienced in the mission field. One day filled with Divine Design and Tender Mercies.

We dive into 2 Nephi chapter 5 in the Book of Mormon to find a blueprint for a happy life.