Last Sunday in our Sunday School Class, our teacher told a story of a friend of hers that every morning looked out the window hopeful and said "Maybe Today".
D&C 49:7 teaches us "I, the Lord God, have spoken it; but the hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor shall they know until he comes."
While we may not know the day or the hour, the day will come when the Savior of the World will return in Glory and "every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess" that Jesus is the Christ. Mosiah 27:31
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, and I come quickly. Even so. Amen." D&C 49:28
I have a testimony that our Savior, Jesus Christ, will return to this Earth and all shall know him and know that he is the Christ of who the Prophets and Scriptures have taught. The Holy Ghost has made these truths known to my mind and my heart. The parable of the ten virgins has become one of my favorites over the years found in Matthew 25:1-13.
Some may watch this video or read the parable in Matthew 25 and think those that had oil should have shared with others, why were they so selfish? But the truth is, the oil in this parable represents our worthiness in obeying the commandments of God that includes our good works. This is not something that can be shared when we are brought before our Maker. We must all prepare for ourselves every needful thing, so that when the day comes we are worthy and aren't full of regret. Notice I did not use the word perfect. We are not expected to be perfect. Worthiness comes from sincere repentance and baptism to become clean from our sins. It isn't possible for us to be perfect on our own. We are just asked to strive to be worthy of the sacrifices our Savior has made so that we can become clean from our sins and so that his suffering will not have been in vain.
In 2nd Nephi 28:30, we are told "For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom."
I love that scripture because it reminds us that we are allowed to take baby steps as we grow in our knowledge of the gospel and all that is expected of us. We are not expected to become perfect overnight.
I also love this talk by Elder Bednar "If Ye Had Known Me". I love the below excerpt:
In reference to the parable of the ten virgins: "Our understanding of this episode is enlarged as we reflect upon an inspired revision to the text. Significantly, the Lord’s phrase reported in the King James Version of the Bible, “I never knew you,” was changed in the Joseph Smith Translation to “Ye never knew me.”
The Savior knows each one of us, every hair on our head in fact. He knows our struggles, our pain, our joy. He will always know us, but it is up to each of us to "know Him". So how can we "know Him"? I feel like the best place to start is to read the New Testament of the King James Bible: read of his life, what he taught, how he suffered and died for us. Then read the Book of Mormon where his words and teachings can be found in every chapter, go to our Father in Heaven in prayer and pray to know Him, receive the blessing of baptism from a worthy priesthood holder, attend the temple when worthy, sing hymns, partake of the sacrament, study conference talks of prophets, apostles, and other leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ and most of all never give up. He is closer to you than you realize, He is just waiting for you to reach out Him.
"Behold, I say unto you, go forth as I have commanded you; repent of all your sins; ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you." D&C 49:26
Each day may we strive to be a little better than yesterday in overcoming our weaknesses with the help of our Savior and look to the sky and think "Maybe Today".
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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