Gratitude

I am filled with gratitude this morning to our Heavenly Father for His plan of salvation and to His Son, Jesus Christ, for His great sacrifice that makes the Resurrection available to all and the Atonement available to all who will accept it and repent and be believing.

Even so, I am sure I don't fully comprehend the wonder of the gifts and blessings we are given by our Heavenly Father. I think it is beyond my finite human mind to realize the magnitude of His great love for us. That Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost also love us and care for us is also evident in Their work for our salvation. I ponder today on all that the Godhead does for us and "I Stand All Amazed."

I hope today to appreciate these gifts and blessings and to do my best to understand how great they are. I hope to maintain, not just for today, an eternal perspective of my life so that I might see the big picture and remember the reasons for obeying the commandments and for having faith, hope, and charity.

I am grateful for the Restoration--that our Lord's true church is again on the earth and its teachings and doctrines are available to us for our own benefit and to share with all of our brothers and sisters around the world. The priesthood authority has been restored, as have temple ordinances and blessings. We can partake of the sacrament each Sunday and renew our covenants with our Heavenly Father.

I am grateful to the Prophet Joseph Smith for his faith and courage in restoring the gospel under the direction of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and with the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The Prophet Joseph sacrificed much and is sometimes still reviled today, but his life and work and death stand as a testimony to his goodness and righteousness and faith.

We have so many blessings. We have prayer and we have scriptures so that we are able to communicate directly with our Father in Heaven and learn of His ways and what He would have us to do. We have temple ordinances, for ourselves and for others. We know the significance of genealogy. We know why missionary work is so important. We know the need for and the blessings of service and charity. We know our own need for forgiveness and mercy and the need to extend those blessings to others.

So often we lose sight of eternity and the fact that the choices we make here and now will affect how we spend eternity. Nevertheless, we can change and be more appreciative and grateful and can ponder and meditate on the doctrines of the gospel and the wonders of eternal life. We can repent and sin no more. We can persist and be diligent in keeping the commandments and living the gospel and serving others. We can remember that we are not required to run faster than we have strength and means, but that we do need to be diligent and persistent. And patient with ourselves and with others.

We are here for a purpose--to repent and learn and progress and to share those things with all of our brothers and sisters. Our Heavenly Father could have kept us all safe with Him in the premortal existance, but He loved us enough to want us to progress and become like He is and to have what He has. Sometimes we lose sight of this, but we can regain that sight, that vision of eternity that will help us to stay on the strait and narrow path ourselves and to help others along the way.

I pray that I will do better and be better and I pray for that for all of us. Whatever trials we have, our Heavenly Father is mindful of us and is there to comfort and strengthen and heal us. May we always be mindful of and grateful to Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.