"You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of those meaningful and significant things. Some may be funny. Some may be significant only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience." Gordon B. Hinckley, 2006

Sunday, January 6, 2008

The Joy of Believing!

I've been reading this book by Ardeth Kapp, called The Joy of Believing. It starts out with thoughts about believing in Santa Clause, and then she shares several of her recollections of Christmases past.It's a nice, easy read, and you can pick it up and read a quick chapter before bed each night. I was reading this morning before church, and came across this paragraph that I haven't been able to stop thinking about all day.
She quotes Matthew's account of the wise men going in search of Jesus. They found Him and offered Him their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. "And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way" (see Matthew 2:11-12.)
She said that while Matthew says correctly that they took another route to avoid King Herod, there is a more significant message in this account. The wise men, having found the Savior, went home "another way." Having found the Christ Child, they were never the same again; they could not go back to their old ways.
I hope I live my life this way. I know the message of the restored gospel. I know that Jesus Christ came to the Earth long ago, to teach correct principles for us to live by, to bring the gospel to the Earth, and most importantly, to atone for our sins, and make it possible for us to return to our Heavenly Father someday.

Knowing these truths, I hope that I am changed. I want to be like the wise men, and live my life "another way." I want to remember Him always, serve Him everyday, my testimony growing stronger daily, and always testifying of Jesus Christ.

*Have you read this book?*
*Have you been changed by the knowledge of our savior, Jesus Christ?*

5 comments:

SuperCoolMom said...

Wow, what a thought provoking passage. I love the idea that once we know Christ our lives are changed forever. In our lesson today the thought that struck me was a quote by Joseph Smith who taught that "it is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God"...by knowing God the Father, and his son, we will find the purpose in this life.

Thanks for the inspiration Wendi, I'll have to check out that book.

RoRo2 said...

I haven't read that book but it sounds like a good one. I really love to find more meanings in things, it is true that when we have found the Savior we take a new path (a straight and narrow one) in life, we can't look back at the old way. I think sometimes we might wish we had gone back the other way because it is familiar and easy, but we can't.

Thank you for sharing this.

crystal said...

What a great post! It perfectly describes spiritual conversion. I do indeed remember almost the very moment that I "went home another way." I was forever a different girl!

Taelor said...

I am reading this book right now and loving it. Thanks for letting me check in on your blog, and thanks for your inspiring thoughts, I appreciate them!

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

You tend to post just the things I need. Thank you. I grew up in the Church. I have seen many times in the lives of thosem around me the results of not having the Gospel. I am daily greatful for the direction my life has. This book sounds wonderful.