happy easter

I was a young girl when I was first shown the painting of the Savior knocking on the door. In the painting Christ is standing close to the door and He is actively knocking.  I was then shown the significance of the painting. The artist had purposely eliminated the doorknob on Christ’s side of the door indicating the only way the door could ever open was if the individual on the other side chose to invite Him in.  In my child-like way I knew I would open that door.

As the years have passed I have come to understand the concept of inviting Him into my life more deeply.  I realize now that it is more than an invitation to come in and sit for a while and certainly the idea of opening the door only once has long passed. Some days I have forgotten to open the door in my busied and hurried life. Sometimes it is because of my pride, indifference or procrastination that I have kept the door closed. The decision to open the door is constant I have come to realize more completely the phrase, “ I Need Thee Every Hour”

Today as we celebrate the glorious resurrection of the Savior, we celebrate the Living Christ.  His victory is our victory. His fulfillment of His Father’s will has forever blessed us.  

 8 O the ^awisdom of God, his ^bmercy and ^cgrace! For behold, if the ^dflesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who ^efell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the ^fdevil, to rise no more.

Because of His great sacrifice we now have hope.

So why does he knock? Because Now His most significant work is in the ongoing labor with each of us individually to lift, to bless, to strengthen, to sustain, to guide, and to forgive us.

I think of all the sweet invitations He extends to us if we open the door. I hear those invitations as I partake of the sacrament each week, as I am touched by the spirit in a class or family home evening.  It is simply not enough to invite Him in but more importantly to invite Him along with us. Just as he reassured Enoch (read highlighted)

Moses 6 :34 Behold my ^aSpirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the ^bmountains shall flee before you, and the ^crivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore ^dwalk with me.

His promise is to walk with us in this life.

Pres. Thomas S. Monson taught:

“We need not visit the Holy Land to feel him close to us. We need not walk by the shores of Galilee or among the Judean hills to walk where Jesus walked  “In a very real sense, all can walk where Jesus walked when, with his words on our lips, his spirit in our hearts, and his teachings in our lives, we journey through mortality” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1974,

As we open the door and allow him to enter he asks that we learn of him and listen to feast upon His words. Words from the scriptures that bring us closer to Him and words that lift us and answer our questions. He implores for us to always remember him so we may have his spirit to comfort us and guide us John 14 27 .  I will not leave you comfortless. Peace I leave with you, my ^bpeace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be ^ctroubled, neither let it be afraid.29

He promises to carry our burdens for us. He can dispel our fears and bring us comfort. He asks us to repent that we will not feel the burden of sin and that we might have been clasped in the arms of Jesus.

Take my ^ayoke upon you, and ^blearn of me; for I am ^cmeek and ^dlowly in ^eheart: and ye shall find ^frest unto your souls.

AS we are obedient….

Be faithful and ^bdiligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my ^clove.

Oh the heaviness of this world can sometimes take our breath away. But his offer to rescue us is light in the dark feelings of despair.

Opposition is part of Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness. We all encounter enough to bring us to an awareness of our Father’s love and of our need for the Savior’s help.

This semester in school I am taking a drawing class. In the classroom we sit in a circle around a very large platform in the center of the room. Each day our instructor places many items on that platform that we will then draw. There are large items and small items; some of the small items are tucked away and hard to see. There are pieces of cloth and strings of beads. We began our drawing one-day and I had quite a bit completed on my paper when our instructor told us to stop what we were drawing and move clockwise 2 places to another student’s easel. Our instructions were to add to our neighbor’s drawing some of our perspective. When I looked to the platform in the room to begin adding to Max’s drawing, it was hard to even see where what he had been working on…not because he was bad at drawing but because the angles on his drawing were different. There were new items that were tucked beneath that I had not seen from where I sat in my seat. I added what I could to his drawing but very soon we had to move another two seats clockwise, which put me directly across from where I had started. I was completely lost. There were items on the platform that I didn’t even know existed. It took me even longer to know where to begin. I thought of the process later that day. I know I cannot understand anyone’s complete perspective of life. I realized that as much as I wanted to add my help I could not be perfect at it. While he asks us to love , comfort and serve our fellow man we do not understand them completely. I realize now that the Savior knows every perspective, feeling, hope, dream. HE knows our place. He knows how to solve all our cares.

The Savior is not a silent observer. He Himself knows personally and infinitely the pain we face.

“He suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children.” 5

President Henry B. Eyring taught: “It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. … And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience.” 14

for I will go ^bbefore your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my ^cSpirit shall be in your hearts, and mine ^dangels round about you, to bear you up.

AS I have seen the painting over the years where Christ is knocking I have noticed how closely the Savior is standing to the door and how he is positioned to almost represent his hope that we will open the door. It seems to me he is listening for any sign of noise coming from the other side. To see if we are close enough to even hear his knocking.  His hope that we will open the door ever calls.

He knows that if we will but simply open the door He can reach us to let us know of His love for us. His promises are sure.

Returning to the words of Thomas s. Monson where he stated in a very real sense he reaches us

The Savior carries, he gives, he makes intercession, he comforts, he leads, he listens and understands, He encircles us about in the arms of his love, he knocks

BECAUSE HE LOVES US

In my human frailty, I think of the words in the song Come thou fount

O to grace how great a debtor

            daily I'm constrained to be!

            Let thy goodness, like a fetter,

            bind my wandering heart to thee.

            Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

            prone to leave the God I love;

            here's my heart, O take and seal it,

            seal it for thy courts above.

In contrast His words to us in Isaiah 49

15Can a ^awoman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not ^bforget thee.

 16Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

He never forgets us.

 On that first Easter morning another doorway was opened as the stone was rolled away from the tomb. When that door was opened we with all of heaven shouted for joy! There in that triumph death had forever lost. A new life was gloriously revealed…a much better life.  A life of hope.

Now he knocks patiently to all of us.  He leans and listens closely at our door, hoping that we will allow Him to enter.  And if we chose to open we too can have a new life. We can leave behind all the darkness and emptiness.

The celebration of the resurrection is ours to remember today but it is my prayer that we will remember this gift every day as we chose Him, our Saviour . He is real, He lives, He is no mystery or apparition of ideas. He is the light life and hope in our lives. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. He is our Savior. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine son.