Book of Mormon: Day 292: He Will Always Give Us Another Chance

Today’s Reading: 3 Nephi 18:31-39, 19:1-3

32 Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them.

I love these beautiful words spoken by the Savior. He tells His disciples that those who have chosen to leave His fold or are lost in sin should be continually ministered to.  He reminds them that every soul is important to Him and that He does not forget them.

Sometimes the choices we make, or the paths we choose to follow lead us into despair and darkness.  We may be left feeling empty and unworthy.   Poor choices can weaken our spirits and take away our spiritual strength.  We may be left feeling lost or broken or that there is no way back.  Through the Savior, there is always a way back.

Elder Patrick Kearon taught,

His Atonement is infinite and embraces us all. Not one of you has thrown away your last chance.  You can change, you can come back, you can claim mercy.  Come unto the only One who can heal, and you will find peace.

When I was a missionary in Toronto, Canada, my companion and I knocked on the door of a man who told us he was a member of the Church, but because of choices he had made in his life, he had stopped attending church. He hadn’t been in many years.  He didn’t feel that he could go back.  He felt that he had disappointed his Father in Heaven and felt unworthy of His love.  We continued to meet with him as often as we could and discovered a humble, sweet man with a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  We arranged for him to meet with the bishop of his ward and discuss coming back to church.

One day, not long after he met with his bishop, we knocked on his door and when he opened it, we were greeted by a man with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.  He said, “Hermanas, I’m going back to church!  The bishop said I can take the sacrament this Sunday!  I am worthy!”

That experience is etched in my heart and has been a reminder to me that the Savior knows and loves each one of us. He knows our hearts and can heal us.  He can take what is broken within us and make us whole again.  He will give us every chance to find our way back to Him.  Because He loves us so much, He will always give us another chance.

“However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.” – Jeffrey R. Holland

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