"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12)

Okay, I love sugar cookies with frosting that is almost as thick as the cookie. I can usually find these kind of cookies at the store. I could eat about a bazillion of them in one sitting. Well, maybe not a bazillion, but I do eat a lot of them. They are filled with sugar (it's the first ingredient) and bleached white flour, and fat. They are so enticing, looking so pretty with sprinkles on top and have absolutely no substance. But I sure think they taste good, until I eat too many of them. What does eating super fattening cookies have to do with Jesus Christ you may ask? or living the gospel? Well, actually, a lot. Let me explain.

Adam and Eve were created "...and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Eating cookies isn't going to make me die, but it does make me think about what is good. It is my choice to "partake" or not. Just as it was for Adam and Eve to partake or not to partake of the tree of knowledge. This was the plan, for Adam and Eve to have a choice as to whether or not they would partake of the fruit. "...even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:15-16 italics added). Every day we are "enticed" by something, whether for good or bad. The beauty of the whole things is that we get to choose what we want to "eat", whether or not we will be enticed, or yield to those enticings.

Being enticed, what exactly does this mean? Enticed means: "to attract artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or desire: tempt" (Merriam-Webster). Being enticed is a good thing because "...man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:16). The Lord Himself said, "And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet- Wherefore, it came to pass that the devil tempted Adam, and he partook of the forbidden fruit and transgressed the commandment, wherein he became subject to the will of the devil, because he yielded unto temptation" (D&C 39-40). It is through this process of being enticed that we are able to learn for ourselves what is good and what is bitter (see Moses 6:55), or what is "light" and what is "dark". We get to choose whether or not we want to follow the Light or the dark (see John 8:12). We must be careful to not call dark light, or light dark. We are warned: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter" (Isaiah 5:20)!

When we have experienced "light" or "tasted this light" (Alma 32:35) there is a difference in the way we can see, behave, think,  and act. Light lets us see, be, think, act good, because "whatsoever is light, is good" (Alma 32:35). Think about when you have been in a room and the lights are brightened ever so slightly. You might notice it at first, but when your eyes adjust, you don't really notice. But, turn the lights out, you are in the dark. Then you really notice the marked difference between the light and the dark. When the lights come back on, you think it is very bright. The Lord has blessed us to be able to discern between good and bitter a little at a time, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Nephi 28:30) so that we aren't blinded by the light and close our eyes to all truth, for "truth is light" (D&C 84:45). If we eat all the cookies, all at once, we get sick. They wouldn't taste so good. Truth is taught a bite at a time, or a "light" at a time. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalms 119:105). The words of the Lord, or the scriptures are little lights, or cookies if you will, that lead us in our path to Him. They illuminate our way as we read, study, act, follow, as we "taste this light" (Alma 32:35). They will lead us to Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). With these words of hope, He was desiring to entice us to follow Him and walk in light and walk in truth. There will be people we come in contact with the won't be able to discern light, or even be enticed by it, even when it is right before them (see John 8:13). But that isn't our worry or concern. We can choose to "press forward, with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20). We get to choose to be enticed and "taste the light", those wonderful, delicious "cookies" that will fill us up and always make us feel good.

This I Testify

What does it mean to "testify"? Well, when one is in court, and one is on the witness stand and asked to "testify" they are giving an account of their experience of what they have witnessed, most frequently with their five senses. They are sharing their experiences of what they have seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. I believe there is also a sixth sense and people often testify of this sixth sense as well. It is the sense of feeling, or emotion. Sometimes it is hard to describe, like salt is hard to describe, or sugar. But it is very real. There are feelings and experiences I have that are more powerful than if I had seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled them.

I am writing this blog to "testify" of the things that I have experienced and therefore know to be true. One may try to argue that I do not know such things to be true, but these are my experiences. And so I only share them from my own perspective and can therefore say they are mine...This I testify...meaning I have experienced this, these are my thoughts, this is what I feel, therefore, it is true to me.

The first thing I have to testify of is the reality of a loving Father in Heaven. He is real. He is the Father of all of us. We are His children and He cares a great deal about what goes on in our lives. He cares so much that He allows us to make choices and also to have the consequences of our choices. As a parent myself, it is very difficult at times to let my children suffer the consequences of their choices. For example, when my son doesn't get his homework completed, I am not doing him any favors if I do it for him so that he won't miss recess or get into trouble in school. Rather, if I let him suffer those consequences, he will eventually learn (hopefully) that it is more fun to get the work done and go to recess, than to stay inside. Heavenly Father is the same way with us. He has given us an incredible gift of agency. Agency allows us to make choices every day whom we will follow. "...As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). My Father in Heaven allows me to choose each day whom I will serve. What a gift! What love our Father must have for us, to allow us to choose, rather than to force us to follow Him. In every situation I get to choose how I will behave, whether I will be kind or rude, whether I will be angry or forgiving. I love the fact that I get to choose. I get to choose whether or not I will allow a trial to let me draw closer to Him or to get mad and be farther away from Him. He knows exactly what I need to become more like Him. I get to choose. And it feels so great when I choose to follow the example of His Son, Jesus Christ, to love others, forgive others, help others on their way. This is true joy. And it feels so good.

We have a loving Father in Heaven who loves each and every one of us. He created us "in His image I own image, in the image of God created He [us]; male and female created He [us]" (Gen. 1:27) and He hears our prayer...but that is for another day. He is real. He loves you and me, this I testify.