Devotion and Dedication
By Linda and Richard Eyre
Note: Each week this column provides a short
essay on one particular aspect or facet of the Lord’s personality and character. It is intended that the
reader focus on this facet while partaking of the sacrament this
Sunday. (Click here
to read full introductory column.)
It
has been said that the difference between great and mediocre men
is a cause. A cause lights the way, propels the mind, and
gives color and scope to the otherwise selfish flatness of life.
The
Savior’s cause, of course, defies comparison with that of any mere
mortal, because his cause was the cause, the Father’s
cause of bringing to pass “the immortality and eternal life
of man.” His devotion to this cause began in the pre-earth life
and is total, complete, and perfect ― and will be so
for the rest of eternity.
Ponder
the magnitude of that cause ― mankind’s eternal life. Try
to realize that giving of life is woven around and through all that
we know of Jesus Christ. He created this earth, and helped to create
the physical bodies we now inhabit, thus giving us mortal life,
and sharing with us all the joyous forms of life that occupy His
earth. He ransomed his perfect life for our imperfect ones, thus
giving us immortal life through a universal resurrection. He gave
us His gospel and He leads His church, thus giving us the path and
the opportunity for eternal life. He gave us covenants, ordinances
and commandments, and to those who come to know him more and more,
his commands seem less and less like arbitrary restrictors and more
and more like wise counsel from a loving father.
Examples
of the Savior’s singular dedication to his Father’s cause (and his
own cause) are everywhere in the scriptures: at age twelve he was
already concerned with is cause (see Luke 2:49). He reiterated timelessly his personal subservience to his
cause and to his Father (see John 4:34, 12:26, 13:16) and the question of not fulfilling
his commitment to the cause never occurred to him (John 18:11).
Next
week we will contemplate the deeper meaning of the magnificent (and
essentially powerful) phrase “Thy will be done.”
© 2005 Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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