Sunday, February 17, 2013

I'm Glad That I Live In This Beautiful World

So I just read this wonderful article in the Ensign that really made me think. It is called Earth: A Gift From God by Tom Reese. As I have mentioned before I have the wonderful opportunity to view this amazing earth from 20,000 feet and revel in the beauty we possess as humans, but as I read this article I pondered many things.

Our Heavenly Father loves us. He loves us so much he commanded Jesus Christ to create this earth that we might live and learn and become like our Father.


“We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these [the children of God] may dwell;
“And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:24–25; see also Abraham 4–5).


As I read these words I thought about my Savior Jesus Christ. He knows me so well that he created this earth so I could appreciate and love it in so many ways. I'm certainly not perfect, but the more I see the world around me, read my scriptures, and pray, the more I want to be like Christ. I am humbled to see the blessings I have received daily in my life including the blessings of living on this earth.

From the window of my airplane, too often my heart sinks at the cloud of pollution I can see hovering over a city, but what I miss is the majesty of the mountains rising above the pollution. It is the same way with my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When I look at the "pollution" around me I sometimes forget that the Gospel will help me rise above it to the heights of heavenly peace and spiritual security.

When I go to the beach, sometimes all I can see is the piles of kelp littering the sand and the flies buzzing around. It takes a while for me to focus on the power and majesty of the waves as they slowly cleanse the shore, leaving it sparkling in the sunshine. Thus it is with the Atonement of Jesus Christ, when I allow his sacrifice to powerfully clean my soul leaving it beautiful and sparkling in the sunshine of repentance and forgiveness.

"Whenever I hear the song of a bird or look at the blue, blue sky,
Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by,
Whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by a lilac tree;
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world, Heavenly Father created for me."
“My Heavenly Father Loves Me,” Children’s Songbook, 228–29.

"...The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the bearth, and call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its dmotion, yea, and also all the eplanets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." Alma 30:44

I am glad that I live in this beautiful world that my Heavenly Father has created through his Son Jesus Christ. I am also grateful for the testimony all things give of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how all things truly do apply in our lives.


No comments: