As I read from the New Testament this week, I thought about the clarity of the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We learn about how He healed the sick and how He raised the dead. We learn about how He taught his disciples of the importance of loving and serving all, not just a few. We learn about how He sacrificed his life so that we could one day return to live with our Father in Heaven. Everything that Jesus Christ did during His ministry on this earth was meant to teach each and every one of us a very clear lesson, and why? To allow us the opportunity to find true and everlasting peace and joy, not only in this life, but also in the life to come.
Reading and studying the scriptures allows me to come to know and understand my Savior more and more. As I read recently in Matthew 11:28, He taught all of us that as long as we come unto Him and follow His example, He will give us rest. When I think about that, I think about what it might mean to be given rest from the Lord. I am sure that it has many different aspects and meanings, but one that comes to mind for me is that we can rest in Him as we are forgiven of our sins. We are imperfect people living in a very dark world, but we can find light and rest as we follow the example of Jesus Christ.
In Mark 4:21, Jesus asks the question, "Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel?" He taught us that it is not. A candle is meant to be out in the open, for all to see. It is our responsibility to light our own candle with the love and light of Christ and to show it for all the world to see. We have the responsibility to stand out in the crowd with the full love and light of him so that little by little and one by one, we can begin to light up the dark world around us once again.
