The End is Near

My husband asked me tonight, "What day do the Mayans think the end of the world is?
My answer, "Either the 21st or 22nd. I'm not sure, but its coming up this week. I guess if it happens I won't be teaching Gospel Doctrine next week, but I'll keep preparing just in case."

While we could smile about all this, in reality, most things in life do eventually come to an end.
Christmas will be here in nine days and then all the preparations will be done.
Sadly, all those in Connecticut who were killed came to a tragic end, too early for their families and loved ones.
Friends move away and our own children leave us.
Someday the world will end as we know it.
At scripture reading tonight, we read Matthew 10, and pondered on what it means to take up our cross and follow Him. Surely, life is not supposed to be easy. Death is part of the package of life, but in Christ there is a hope and a perspective that what happens here is not all there is, for He rose again, and offers us eternal life, or life without end. What glorious, beautiful doctrine that is!

Again, I've stopped to think that we never know when the end of our lives is coming, but its nearer than most any of us want it to be. So, "preparing just in case" is really just another way of saying, live our life to the best we can every day. Our crosses to bear come in those subtle moments. Did we take the high road or the low road? Did we forgive or let something fester?

A teenager gave a talk in church which I found very powerful today.  He was quoting someone, Brad Wilcox, I believe, and explained that if we were to draw two dots, and had the highest one be where God is, and the one at the bottom be where we are, then we must ponder the question, what does Christ do for us? At first the obvious answer would be to draw a line connecting us to God. But in truth, we were taught, that all the space on the page has ALREADY been filled by Jesus Christ by His infinite and eternal sacrifice that we call the Atonement. All paths, all deficits, all the choices of our lives have been covered by Him already. Its the grace He offers us.

Why are we here then? Don't works count? We, who are continuously at the bottom dot, making progress still, but not enough? We are to humble ourselves and prepare for the day when we will stand before our Maker by coming unto our Savior now. Let Him show us the way. Let Him be the author and finisher of our faith, and prepare to be in His presence someday. Practicing faith and repentance and obedience every day. That still seems to be the answer, no matter which century we live in. That's the greatest creativity we get to choose - How will I live my life today? How grateful I am to the Savior for the hope He gives, that all the trials of life will someday be over. Today I can let Him mold and create a better me, and trust that when the end day finally does come, it will be far better than what I could do on my own without Him. And, that is what makes a Merry Christmas, Merry after all!