"Come unto me"

Christ has given the call, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."(Matthew 11: 28.)   How do we come unto Christ?  We heed the call.  We do what is right, even when it is hard.  We love and serve others.  We repent and become something better.  We do the best we can.

We heed the call.  We will not be forced to follow, because our loving Heavenly Father has given us the precious gift of agency.  We can choose to suffer on our own, or we can choose to have help.  2 Nephi 2: 27 reads, "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."  The call of the Savior is one of "Come unto me," which means to move towards and not be idle and still.

We do what is right, even when it is hard.  If we are to come to Christ, we have to follow His teachings.  The prophet Nephi from the Book of Mormon asked this question, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?"(2 Nephi 31: 10).  If we do what is right, even when it is hard, we will draw closer to Christ.  "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."(James 4:7-8).

We love and serve others.  Christ set the perfect example of how we should live, and He went about doing good.   When He was asked "which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."(Matthew 22:36-39).  As we learn to love and serve, we will draw closer to the Savior.

We repent and become something better.  We all make mistakes, Christ was the only sinless one.  To come unto Him, we have to cleanse ourselves.  "Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me."(3 Nephi 9:14).  The invitation to come is a chance to become.  To become something different, happy, better, and full of joy.  Sin is yielding to satan and is guilt and shame.  When we come to Christ, He offers relief.  "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."(Matthew 11:29).  We can all receive forgiveness and healing.  If we repent fully and completely, He will not turn away! 

We do the best we can.  He knows our hearts; all He expects is us to try our very best.  That is the invitation to come.  We all will have to be perfect, or we can't live in the presence of God.  "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."(Matthew 5:48).  This is something we of course can't do on our own.  That is why He came.  When we do our very best, repent, and come to Him, He makes up the rest.

I know that true peace is found as we heed our Savior's call.  We do this when we heed the call, do what is right, even when it is hard, love and serve others, repent and become something better, and do the best we can.

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