Spiritual Insight

May 5, 2014

This week I want to share something i learned in the Book of Mormon and what it really means to take upon yourself the name of Christ. I was Reading in In Alma 14 where Alma and Amulek have to watch the horrible scene of all the ¨believers in Christ¨ get burned alive by the wicked people of the city that they were preaching in. They had to watch that horrible scene, I can’t even imagine, and then they were thrown into prison and were deprived of food and water,  their persecutors  stripped them of their clothes and came daily and mocked them and spat upon them and tried to get them to deny Christ. I can’t imagine how they must have felt in this trying time, many of the saints were murdered and they were in a cold dark dungeon having their physical and mental strengths tested to the maximum. This experience reminded me a lot of Joseph Smiths time in Liberty Jail. I bet they wondered where is God? When will this end? but they did not deny their faith in Christ. They actually found strength in Christ. 

Alma 14:26 “And Alma cried, saying: How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. …”

 in spite of all that was happening they held fast to Christ. They walked with him the road to Gethsemane and they were truly examples of what it means to take Christ’s name upon us.

 I don’t think I really understood the meaning of taking the name of Christ upon us. It means that we walk the road he walked. We stay true to Him and his commandments even when others make fun of us when no one listens, when its hard, when we are tired, cold and hungry. It means we lift up the broken hearted and seek after the lost sheep even if they never come back. It means always fighting for the cause of Christ even though it seems like all your work is in vain. It was never easy for Christ. Nothing he did was easy. He worked for it and he did the will of the Father even though it was incredibly hard and we are asked to take up his cross and follow him. The path may be long hard and even sometimes lonely but the thing is in the end we will triumph just like Christ did in the end when he beat death and rose again in all his glory. Just like Alma and Amulek received the strength to break their bonds and the prison walls crumbled down around them and there persecutors where destroyed. They walked out of there and their enemies fled. Christ had not forgotten them. And he has not forgotten you nor will he ever forget you. This too shall pass. Be patient in affliction and hold fast to Christ. Your efforts of service for Christ are not in vain even though you see no fruits of your work in some seasons. You covenanted to take upon you the name of Christ and walk the road to Gethsemane and even have your own Gethsemane's in this life but in these times remember that we know who will win in the end and that we are on the winning team. Christ rose from the dead. He won. We too will rise from our hard times so push on. Don’t you quit. Remember Christ is always there next to you walking the hard and long and sometimes lonely paths. And as we remember that and look for the tender mercies of God in our lives every day and the joy in the little things in life and live the gospel, we will find joy in the journey whether  it be in a path of trial or a path of prosperity. This life is a test that shapes us and molds us into the person our father in heaven wants us to be. So come what may and love it. Don’t look back continue the journey you have started when you took Christ’s name upon you.

Hermana Jennings