There Will Come A Time. . .

There will come a time . . .

. . . When you can no longer eat any more Mini Cadburry Eggs without killing over.

. . . That you will step on a tiny, annoying toy in bare feet and curse the manufacturer of such a sneaky torture device {honestly-- that should be part of the design process. "Okay, Bob. Now step on it and see what happens. Well done! Can ya give me a number on your pain scale?"}

. . . That you wonder why in the world you log onto Facebook. It's so-- yeah, well. Special.  A lot.

. . . When you try to eat another handful of Mini Cadburry Eggs. Just 'cause.

. . . . . . . . .

But in all seriousness, there will come a time for each of us that we'll need to decide something very important. And I'm not talking about what to order from the take-out menu or what shoes match your belt. This kind of decision will affect the rest of your life.

No pressure or anything. :)

There will come a time when you'll need to decide if Jesus Christ actually, really, literally paid for your sins.

Of course, before you come to that pivotal question, you might want to ask yourself if you believe in God the Father. And once you check that one off your list, you can move on to if He had a perfect Son and sent Him to Earth to atone for us.

And then you can tackle the looming question of if the Savior did indeed save you.

YOU.

Little 'ol you.

{source}

Did He really know your sins and weaknesses inside and out; better than you know them yourself? Does He really know you now?

Does He? Or is this all an elaborate hoax? Am I a crazy lady with her brain in a jar? I mean, come on. If I have anything in a jar, it's food. I love me some good eats.

{focus, Jessica!}

So, did the Savior pay for your sins?

Trust me-- it's tempting to shout out the robust "Sunday School answer" of YES. JESUS CHRIST PAID FOR THE SINS OF ALL MANKIND.

But I want you to slow down for a minute and think about this on a personal level. This isn't a test. I'm not asking for scriptural references and corresponding conference talks. If you're anything like me, you hid behind those types of things for a long time. You knew the "right answer" in church and seminary. . . But when all was quiet and no one was waiting for an answer, it was a little intimidating of a subject.

Let me kinda give you the lowdown of how this would go play out in my noggin: "If Jesus Christ literally came to Earth, it was because He was the Son of God and had a divine mission. If He really had a divine mission, then it was to atone for the sins of mankind. And if He atoned for the sins of mankind, then He atoned for MY sins. If He atoned for my sins, then He knows me personally. And if He knows me personally, then He knows how painfully inadequate I am and how I struggle with so many things. Now I feel self-conscious."

Yeah. . . Like I said, it was an intimidating subject.

But then it occurred to me that if all the scriptures about Him atoning for our sins were legit, then the scriptures about Him loving us were legit, too.

He loves us so profoundly that He willingly suffered unimaginable pain and grief so that we wouldn't have to.

"For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; . . . which suffering cause myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit-- and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink." {D&C 19:16,18}  

He loves us so perfectly that He wanted to protect us from ever having to pay for our sins without His mediation. He opened up the opportunity for us to repent here on Earth and overcome our weaknesses. Through Him, we have the chance to enter the presence of Heavenly Father and never leave. Without Him, none of us would stand a chance.

President Ezra Taft Benson said, "In Gethsemane and on Calvary, [Jesus] worked out the infinite and eternal atonement. It was the greatest single act of love in recorded history. Then followed His death and resurrection. Thus He became our Redeemer-- redeeming all of us from physical death, and redeeming those of us from spiritual death who will obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel."

. . . .

Did Jesus Christ  actually, really, literally pay for your sins?

Hmmmmmmm?

I believe He did. When I take an honest peek inside and communicate through prayer with The Man Upstairs, I feel that, yes, He did indeed.

I may feel like a hairy-stinky-bridge-dwelling-troll sometimes; not worth a whole lot. But I honestly, 100% believe that my Savior and Redeemer sees something completely different. He sees me in terms of who I was before this life and who I can become.

He has been with me and you from the start. He has born us up through the hardest and scariest moments of our lives and has celebrated the happiest times with us, too. He understands how imperfect we are far more than we do, but He loves us anyway.

He wants us to trust Him and see ourselves as He does.

He wants us to love ourselves as He does; unreservedly. Wholeheartedly. Purely. Without guile.

. . .

So when the time comes. don't be afraid. Grab an extra handful of Mini Cadburry Eggs and have faith that your answer will come if you honestly ask for it.