Coming to the Feet of Jesus

Jesus could have walked through the crowd, ministering individually to each person in need of healing.  Instead, He extended an important invitation–one that has implications for each of us today.

 

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather in Salt Lake City on the first weekends of April and October for General Conference. At the conference, church leaders deliver inspired messages about the gospel of Jesus Christ to the worldwide church.  Sessions are also broadcast throughout the world in many languages. 

 

I eagerly await each General Conference. The messages fill me with hope and a renewed desire to strengthen my relationship with Jesus Christ. I especially love hearing our beloved prophet, who provides direction from the Lord for our day.

 

In an October 2019 conference address, our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, emphasized the importance of keeping the second great commandment as instructed by Jesus, to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt 22:39). He taught: 

 

[O]ur greatest joy comes as we help our brothers and sisters…Giving help to others—making a conscientious effort to care about others as much as or more than we care about ourselves—is our joy. Especially, I might add, when it is not convenient and when it takes us out of our comfort zone. Living that second great commandment is the key to becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

 

Pondering these words, I felt impressed to seek and develop the divine attribute of charity, or “the pure love of Christ”, that I might better love and serve those around me (Moroni 7:47). The prompting included three parts: First, a daily supplication to the Lord for the gift of charity. Second, a study of the life of Jesus Christ in scripture, particularly focusing on the way he ministered to others. And third, a daily striving to “lose [my] life” in love and service to others (Matt 16:25).

 

Though excited about the goal, admittedly, I was nervous. Where would I find time to act on the promptings when they came? Life already felt busy. I had recently delivered my second baby and was still adjusting to life with a newborn and a toddler.  Amidst family responsibilities, church service, and various other time commitments, most days I felt stretched to capacity. Did I dare ask the Lord to add more things to my to-do list? How would I fit them in? Though apprehensive, I prayed for help and felt determined to try.

 

One day while studying the Savior’s life, I was led to the account of His visit and ministry among the people in the Americas following His resurrection, as recorded in The Book of Mormon. After teaching His gospel and quoting several passages from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus looked around at the multitude.  He perceived that they did not understand all that He had shared. He commanded them to go home and ponder His message, assuring them that He would return the next day. But when He looked again, He saw the multitude’s unspoken pleading for Him to remain with them. He was filled with compassion and extended an invitation:

 

“Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.” (3 Nephi 17:7)

 

It is interesting to note that Jesus was not directly addressing those who were sick.  Rather, He was inviting those who were ‘whole’ to look around, find those who were afflicted, and bring them to Him. Undoubtedly, Jesus could have walked through the crowd, ministering individually to each person in need of healing. Why, then, did He ask the ‘whole’ to help? 

 

Ironically, as those who were ‘whole’ accepted the invitation and brought others to the Savior, they themselves were coming to Him. Perhaps, Jesus was teaching the multitude, and each of us, that in moments of caring for others, we are led to places where we encounter Him. Perhaps these moments are transformative, not only in drawing us to Him but in helping us to become more like Him.

 

Christ tenderly healed the sick, one by one.  Then all of those gathered at His feet had a powerful experience:

 

And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears (3 Nephi 17:10).

 

Pondering this account, I have asked myself many times–how can I live in such a manner that I experience, as did these people, a personal encounter with the Savior? What invitation would He give to me today?  I believe He would ask something similar to what He had asked this multitude two millennia ago. He would urge me to look around, in every setting and situation, and see the suffering that He sees. He would plead with me to help others feel His love and come to Him. He would entreat me to be His hands and to bravely reach out to the lonely, the discouraged, and the afflicted. He would tell me that love has always been the way to Him and to a fullness of joy. As Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught, “To help others is the path of discipleship.”

 

Contrary to my original worry that seeking opportunities to practice His kind of love would add to an already heavy load, I have found this work to be spiritually invigorating.  Not once have I been overwhelmed by the promptings I received to love or serve. Instead, the Lord has been teaching me how to live out ordinary days with greater amounts of love: To adore my children the way that He does and to respond to them in a manner He would–with kind eyes and gentle words. To expand my circle and invite someone new. To stop scrolling and, instead, write a note to my husband. To put down a task, pick up a book, and read to my toddler. To go to church, not only to worship but also to love. To be aware of those who may be hurting, discouraged, or overwhelmed and meet them in that place, offering whatever help I can. To continually think about how Jesus might interact with each person I encounter and then to try and live out the answer.

 

These last few months of seeking to more fully understand Jesus’s love have changed me and my relationship to the Lord. When I simply try to reach out to others in a way Jesus would, I experience tender, one-on-one moments with Him.  I feel His compassionate touch and warm embrace. I am lightened, lifted and loved by Him. Though I set out seeking to serve another, having met Jesus in that place, I walk away with my cup overflowing with blessings of peace, strength, joy, and healing. And I better understand why Jesus invited me to help–not because He is incapable of doing the work alone, but because He was aware all along that I was the one who needed to be made whole. 

 

I have found the words of a beautiful hymn to be true:

 

Stript, wounded, beaten nigh to death,

I found him by the highway side.

I roused his pulse, brought back his breath,

Revived his spirit, and supplied

Wine, oil, refreshment–he was healed.

I had myself a wound concealed,

But from that hour forgot the smart,

And peace bound up my broken heart.

(A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, verse 5). 

 

It has been my experience that the Lord is incredibly generous in offering the blessings we most need when we are striving to make others happy, and that He comes in close to do it. Jesus doesn’t need to be someone we simply read about in scripture or someone we will meet in a distant future day.  He can be a familiar friend who is present in the here and now. Every time I experience His love, it thrills me to think that the God of the universe would meet me in unexpected places on ordinary days to connect with me, to strengthen me, and, sometimes, to simply sit with me.

 

I am grateful that the application of a prophetic teaching over the past six months has helped me become better acquainted with Jesus. I look forward to the next general conference in a few short days (Go here to watch/listen!). Though I do not know what President Nelson will share or what I will feel prompted to do in response, I am certain that his message will be one that can lead me, if even one step closer, to the feet of Jesus and, there, be encircled “in the arms of [His] love” (D&C 6:20).

 

Invitation: What is one thing you can do today to reach out to someone in the way the Savior would?

For similar articles, try here or here!

Photo: Josh Appel on Unsplash