We Invite Him to Be

I was rather inspired by the talks during the Christmas Devotional tonight. It seems like in years past each member of the presidency would share a favorite Christmas memory or anecdote that was an example of the love and service we can share at Christmas time. I loved hearing their stories and getting know the brethren better. Yet tonight and in the devotional from last year I noticed a change. Most speakers focused on prophecies of Christ's birth and prophecies of His second coming. Pres Eyring mentioned how Christmas is a time to remember His time on earth and a reminder of the time He will come again. I loved the reminder that because of Easter we have Christmas and that because of the Holy Ghost we can see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again.

I thought that was a rather interesting thing to think about at Christmas time, Christmas is about giving and receiving and the Holy Ghost is one of the greatest gifts, next to the Atonement and agency we have in this life. If we are seeking to become like Christ, to come to know Him, the Holy Ghost is the best tool at our disposal to do so. The Spirit enlightens our minds, imparts knowledge, increases our capacity to gain knowledge and can tutor us in how to become like Christ. Tonight I believe that Elder Christensen said that too often we are content to use this gift only occasionally, in times of danger or need. Yet in doing so we live below our privilege of children of God and as recipients of this gift. Tonight we were encouraged to feast upon the words of Christ, to be obedient and allow this first comforter to be an active and meaningful influence in our lives as we do so we prepare to meet our Savior Jesus Christ.

This Christmas season is a time for giving, for sharing, for serving and for loving, in essence this is the season especially created to help us become more like the Savior, the very reason for this Christmas time. I hope that each of us, myself included, will take time to give a little extra to cultivate a relationship with the Spirit. I realized today that tv is one of the adversary's most effective tools of distraction. We live in a day and time that we cannot afford to be distracted, to live in a world of oh tomorrow we'll do that. I hope we will use our agency to invite the Spirit and ask Heavenly Father for the Spirit to teach us today how we can become like our Savior and then be obedient when that tutoring comes for our Heavenly Father wants to be near us, but He can only come as near as we invite Him to be.