Come Follow Me 52: The Living Christ

Come Follow Me Lesson 52: The Living Christ

Read and posted on Christmas, 25 December 2021. (Still posting in blog on the 26th)

I read this lesson and this document with Bob as he was working on some of his photos. Then I also read this message from our current prophet, President Russell M. Nelson:

While we read the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke, we find the true meaning of Christmas in the gospel of John. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

The first and greatest gift of Christmas was neither gold, nor frankincense, nor myrrh. It was the willing gift from a loving Heavenly Father of His Beloved, Only Begotten Son.

On that first Silent Night, I can only imagine the holy mixture of emotions that our Heavenly Father must have experienced, watching from heaven as His Beloved Son entered a fallen world in the lowliest and most indigent of circumstances.

God is not devoid of emotions. He looks after us with all the tender feeling of a loving parent. I imagine the joy He felt in knowing that this precious infant would eventually win a glorious triumph over sin and death—throwing open the doors of heavenly possibilities so that you and I could someday live again with our loved ones.

But I also believe His joy was tempered by the perfect knowledge of what awaited His Beloved Son. In a few short years from that holy night, this same Son would suffer as none had ever, nor could ever, suffer.

But because our Heavenly Father loves us so much, He allowed these joyful and painful events to take their proper course. Because the world needed saving, and because you and I need saving, He sent us a Savior.

This Christmas, let us accept God’s perfect and precious gift. Let us cast our burdens and sins at the Savior’s feet and experience the joy that comes from repentance and change. Let us follow Jesus Christ and emulate His life as we celebrate His birth.

I wish you, my dear friends, a very merry Christmas.

I’m thankful for the thoughts Bob and I have been able to share all throughout the year. I’m thankful to be married to a man who shares my belief in God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am thankful that we got to share spiritual experiences with our children and grandchildren during this year and this Christmas season.

I look forward to carrying the Spirit of Christmas with me all through the year. Welcome 2022.