Atonement - Individual

 The Atonement is an awesome gift to us. Christ's act of the Atonement allows us to have immortality. The following thoughts helped me as I pondered the Atonement during this Easter season. 

"Our Savior’s Atonement does more than assure us of immortality by a universal resurrection and give us the opportunity to be cleansed from sin by repentance and baptism. His Atonement also provides the opportunity to call upon Him who has experienced all of our mortal infirmities to give us the strength to bear the burdens of mortality. He knows of our anguish, and He is there for us. Like the good Samaritan, when He finds us wounded at the wayside, He will bind up our wounds and care for us (see Luke 10:34). The healing and strengthening power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement is for all of us who will ask. Dallin Oaks 

**************

Staying to the End - Sometimes we are taught major lessons in very interesting ways. This happens to me frequently. Some of you may even wonder how I learned that from an experience I share here on the blog. Each of us learns differently. The Spirit can teach us in the midst of something that doesn’t seem very “spiritual.” That happened to Lee Middleton when he found himself washing dishes in the temple’s cafeteria. He had a dishwashing job as a teenager and had resolved never to wash dishes again. But he couldn’t say no when asked to serve that way in the temple. One night someone thanked him for “staying to the very end.” As he reflected on the person’s comment, “a thought entered my mind: ‘How could I not serve the Lord in this small way? He suffered in Gethsemane and hung on a cross for me. What sacrifice on my part is too great in return?” Then he had a special experience with the Spirit. As I read this I thought about the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, the ones who couldn’t stay awake. Three times Christ asked them to watch with Him. Christ stayed “to the end.” We can do the same.  Read Middleton’s article here. 

**************

Kate Hansen describes a very difficult time in her life. As she struggled she realized she needed to seek the Lord’s help and let Him help her through the trial. The experience taught her that “Jesus Christ was not just the Savior. He is my Savior. He bore my griefs and carried my sorrows, and with His stripes I am healed (see Isaiah 53:4–5). Article here He is MY Savior. Our lives change when we realize how much we are loved and known as individuals - that the Atonement was for each of us, individually. 

 **************

That’s the glory and miracle of Christ’s atonement. It was universal but it was also very individual.