Come to the Table and some other thoughts

I'm doing another study with Jackie and Sara and this time I invited Aly to participate as well through Multiply Goodness.  My friend/former coworker Carolyn is also participating. It's an Easter study, seeing Easter through the eyes of all who were there or participated in some way.  As we read about the Last Supper, Multiply Goodness has daily devotionals.  And the girl that did the devotional that day shared the lyrics to a Christian song called Come to the Table.  I really loved what she shared...that we are all invited to partake...that Christ welcomes us all. Sometimes we choose not to participate or we feel we are unworthy to be at the table, but Christ is always there stretching out His arms, asking us to come.  Here are some of the lyrics to the song:

"Just come to the table

Come join the sinners, you have been redeemed
Take your place beside the Savior now
Sit down and be set free
Come to the table
Just come to the table

To the thief, to the doubter
To the hero and the coward
To the prisoner and the soldier
To the young, to the older
All who hunger, all who thirst
All the last, all the first
All the paupers and the princes
All who fail you've been forgiven
All who dream, all who suffer
All who loved and lost another
All the chained, all the free
All who follow, all who lead
Anyone who's been let down
All the lost you have been found
All who've been labeled right or wrong
Everyone who hears this song

Just
Come, come to the table"

That night I was reading in 2 Nephi and was so touched by 2 Nephi chapter 26 and how it again reiterates that all are welcome, all are invited.  Here's just a snippet of what it says, ""Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden. ...he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile." (2 Nephi 26: 28, 33)

It's His greatest desire for all of us to participate.  For all of us to come unto Him, come follow Him, yoke ourselves with Him, receive temple ordinances, etc.

A few weeks ago, Annette and I went to the temple really early in the morning.  We did initiatories and then an endowment session. It was a beautiful morning, and I really do notice that my life is better when I make an effort to be in the temple regularly.

Sara, Jackie and I were talking a week ago about how people view God.  Some people see God as this angry, vengeful deity and Christ intercedes in our behalf to protect us from His wrath.  I have spent a lot of time studying the Godhead over the past 3 or 4 years and I am so grateful because I have come to know my Father so much better through that process.  Everything that Christ is, God is as well.  God loves us so very much.  He is good and kind and merciful and loving and charitable and just and wise and every other good thing.  I was touched to reread these words from Elder Holland:  

"My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life. Indeed it is only with that reassurance burning in our soul that we can have the confidence to keep trying to improve, keep seeking forgiveness for our sins, and keep extending that grace to our neighbor."

"...If we give our heart to God, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if we do the best we can to live the gospel, then tomorrow—and every other day—is ultimately going to be magnificent, even if we don’t always recognize it as such. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants it to be! He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth “that all things work together for good to them that love God.”10 So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."

God loves us...you and me...with all of His heart, might, mind and strength! I know this is true!