Being Prepared to Meet the Savior
2024 First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional
Sunday, December 8, 2024
As we have entered the Christmas season, my thoughts have turned to those who may be away from home, including the very large number of missionaries who are now serving.
My first Christmas away from home was as a missionary in England, December of 1960. I was serving in Swindon, England.
We had opened Swindon for missionary work about 90 days earlier. We were renting a room for Sunday meetings. We were blessed to have a few converts—the beginnings of a branch.
On Christmas Eve my companion, Elder Noel Luke, and I decided to greet people in their homes in the area where we were serving and leave a brief Christmas message and blessing. It was a beautiful night, and the cloud-filled sky had a bright moon shining through creating a heavenly feeling. Suddenly we realized everyone in the neighborhood had their televisions tuned to a beloved comedian and singer, Harry Secombe. He sang the precious song “Bless This House.” He touchingly rendered the sacred words, quote:
Bless the people here within.
Keep them pure and free from sin.
Bless us all that we may be
His rendering brought tears to our eyes. The song, coming from almost every home, reverberated up and bounced back from the clouds. Elder Luke and I had this overwhelming feeling that we were truly emissaries of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, trying to serve and bless our Heavenly Father’s children.
As a missionary I came to understand that living on this earth we are all away from home—our heavenly home. The way to feel the comfort of that home is through service to our Savior.
In recent years, the Church has encouraged us to emphasize the light that the Savior provides to all the world, especially during this Christmas season. The Church has a magnificent Light the World effort to turn everyone’s thoughts to the Savior. This is accompanied by an effort to give to those in need and provide Christlike service.
Last year the Church commenced the Light the World effort using the massive digital displays surrounding Times Square in New York City.
Mary and I were present when the touching depiction of the Savior’s birth was portrayed on the giant digital billboards. It was a deeply spiritual experience. This year the Times Square experience has been replicated in many cities across the world.
While in New York City, during the Light the World event, I noticed the effort to have significant displays in department store windows.
I remember a Sunday edition of the New York Times that had a full-page article titled: “Holiday Windows Return. Shoppers Do Too.” The article recounted a tradition where lavish window displays decorated department store windows on Fifth Avenue in New York City. As near as I could determine from the article and my recent visit, none of those windows featured Christmas scenes or the Christ Child.
As I read the article, I remembered when I was young the displays of Christmas windows in department stores in Salt Lake City that featured the Christ child. I also recalled an account from that period about a shopping mall in the Midwest that wanted to emphasize the Christmas theme to both create a Christmas feeling and attract shoppers. They put up a large banner that read, “If Christ came tonight, to whom would He come?” There were several scenes displayed in the store windows underneath the sign. If I remember the scenes correctly:
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One was of an elderly woman in bed being attended by a nurse. She appeared to be very ill.
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The second was of a young mother with a newborn baby. Joy radiated from her face.
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A third scene displayed a family with crying children. It was clear that there was not enough to eat, and there would be few, if any, Christmas presents.
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A fourth scene showed an obviously wealthy family unwrapping numerous gifts.
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The fifth scene was a sweet, but humble family with many children joyously singing together.
As I contemplate the five displays and the banner “If Christ came tonight, to whom would He come?”, two thoughts come to my mind.
First, we know that when the Savior comes for the second time, we will not know the day or the hour.
Second, when Jesus Christ comes, as President Russell M. Nelson taught at the recent general conference, “[He] will return to the earth as the Millennial Messiah.” To be prepared, President Nelson urges us “To rededicate [our] lives to Jesus Christ.” Accordingly, the banner might more properly have said, “If Christ came tonight, who would be prepared to greet Him?”
As I have reviewed the window scenes, I realize everything they tell us is about the physical and financial condition of the people, but nothing about their spiritual condition. The window displays depicted individuals that were old and sick as well as healthy and newborn. There were also the rich and the poor. But age, health, and financial status do not tell us what is really important, which is the condition of their spirits.
In the Doctrine and Covenants we read about the qualifications for baptism into Christ’s Church. The criteria are primarily based on humbling ourselves, having a “broken heart and a contrite spirit,” repenting, and “serving [Jesus Christ] to the end.” The goal is to become “a devout disciple of Jesus Christ” and progress along the covenant path which prepares us for the blessings of His Atonement.
Christ is the example in all things. He declared, “Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you.” As we look at the condition of our spirits, we would do well to look at His perfect example. The Savior showed us the way to find happiness, meaning, and joy in this life and in eternity. Happiness and joy define the Christmas spirit.
In John 19:5 we read that Pilate brought Jesus before those who wanted Him crucified. He was “wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the Man!”
In this Christmas season let us briefly behold the Man, who is the Christ, and the gifts He has provided.
First, let us consider His miraculous birth.
We know that this precious babe that we celebrate in this Christmas season was the only begotten Son of the Father. He inherited the power of eternal life from His Father—the power to live. And He inherited from His mortal mother the power to die. He was chosen from the beginning for His sacred mission.
Matthew 1:23 reads, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
Second, ponder His perfect and sinless life and His example. Though He suffered pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind, He successfully fulfilled His mission. He is our exemplar and laid out the path that we should follow. He devoted His life to the poor, the needy, the sick, and the afflicted, and the successful completion of the eternal plan for which He alone was qualified.
Third, contemplate His death, Resurrection, and Atonement.
With respect to the Atonement, Preach My Gospel beautifully and simply reads: “The Savior’s Atonement included His suffering in Gethsemane, His suffering and death on the cross, and His Resurrection. He suffered beyond comprehension—so much that He bled from every pore.”
In the Doctrine and Covenants 76:41 we read: “That He came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness.”
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the greatest event and gift that has ever occurred in the history of mankind. All of us have sinned, and it is only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we can obtain mercy and live with God.
Fourth, prepare for His Second Coming.
In the Old Testament, Job taught: “He shall stand at the latter-day upon the earth.” As President Russell M. Nelson has so beautifully taught: “[Christ] will direct the affairs of His Church from both old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem.” Now is our time to prepare for this event. The scriptures say: “Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord.”
My final counsel is to love and serve the Lord. As we contemplate our spiritual condition and our preparation to greet the Savior, we should first, “Love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” And second, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Our love of God and our fellow man is the ultimate test of the condition of our spirit. If we love God, we will keep His commandments. And if we love our fellow men, we will serve them and essentially be the Savior’s hands.
In Doctrine and Covenants, the Savior uses these words: “Yea, I will open the hearts of the people, and … I will establish a church by your hand.”
The principal way we can show our gratitude to the Savior in this Christmas season is to be His servant—to, in effect, be His hands here on earth.
At this beautiful time, when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I testify to you that He lives. He is our Exemplar, our Advocate with the Father, and He accomplished everything necessary for us to return to the Father’s and the Son’s presence. We would be wise to follow Jesus Christ and receive the gifts that He has provided.
May you have a glorious Christmas centered on Jesus Christ.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.