Omni 1:26 -- And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.In 1987, I began to awaken to my need most specifically and personally for a Savior. My weaknesses and my foolish indulgences in fearful, dishonest choices had brought me down into such depths of humility that the only way to describe them was that they were as "the deepest abyss." (See 2 Nephi 9:42 and Mosiah 27::29.) All of my previous 24 years in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been focused on taking His name--the name of Jesus Christ--upon me and doing all my prayers and all my service in His name. Beyond that, I had no comprehension that I needed Him any more than that. His Name upon me--sort of like having it stamped on my hand so I could go through a turnstile to get within praying distance of our Heavenly Father's throne. And so pretty much all the rest of my definition of God was focused on our Father in Heaven. I had no idea that I--a baptized, confirmed and endowed Latter-day Saint, as devout and active as a woman could be--needed more of Christ than that. And then, as I said earlier, I came face to face with my need for a Savior God. I will never forget the joy I felt coming back at me through the veil on the day I told my Heavenly Father I desperately needed His Son Jesus Christ. It was like I had just given my Father the greatest gift I could give Him! That was the day when I came to myself like the prodigal and took my Father's offer of the Way back to Him.
Scriptures cited in this post:
2 Nephi 9:42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.
Mosiah 27:29 My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.
