My favorite devotional speech (part one)

Part one because i have so many favorites.  Brad Wilcox, Shari Dew, Jeffery R. Holland and on and on.  And now David A. Bednar.  I'm grateful that inspirational talks are available to read, watch and listen to.  Some days I need a boost and other days I just want to add to the spirit of joy i feel.

Brad Wilcox gave the devotional talk at BYU called "His Grace is Sufficient" back in 2011.  This is an excerpt from the book he wrote in 2009 called "The Continuous Atonement".  This book has really made an impact on me and then hearing him speak made it more personal.

Its one thing to know that Christ died and that we are saved by grace but to understand what it means and what is required of us is empowering to me.

This is an excerpt from his talk where he explained how grace works to one of his students:

She said, “I know I need to do my best and then Jesus does the rest, but I can’t even do my best.”

She then went on to tell me all the things she should be doing because she’s a Mormon that she wasn’t doing.

She continued, “I know that I have to do my part and then Jesus makes up the difference and fills the gap that stands between my part and perfection. But who fills the gap that stands between where I am now and my part?”

She then went on to tell me all the things that she shouldn’t be doing because she’s a Mormon, but she was doing them anyway.

Finally I said, “Jesus doesn’t make up the difference. Jesus makes all the difference. Grace is not about filling gaps. It is about filling us.”

Seeing that she was still confused, I took a piece of paper and drew two dots—one at the top representing God and one at the bottom representing us. I then said, “Go ahead. Draw the line. How much is our part? How much is Christ’s part?”

She went right to the center of the page and began to draw a line. Then, considering what we had been speaking about, she went to the bottom of the page and drew a line just above the bottom dot.

I said, “Wrong.”

She said, “I knew it was higher. I should have just drawn it, because I knew it.”

I said, “No. The truth is, there is no line. Jesus filled the whole space. He paid our debt in full. He didn’t pay it all except for a few coins. He paid it all. It is finished.”

She said, “Right! Like I don’t have to do anything?”

“Oh no,” I said, “you have plenty to do, but it is not to fill that gap. We will all be resurrected. We will all go back to God’s presence. What is left to be determined by our obedience is what kind of body we plan on being resurrected with and how comfortable we plan to be in God’s presence and how long we plan to stay there.”

“So what’s the difference?” the girl asked. “Whether our efforts are required by justice or by Jesus, they are still required.”

“True,” I said, “but they are required for a different purpose. Fulfilling Christ’s requirements is like paying a mortgage instead of rent or like making deposits in a savings account instead of paying off debt. You still have to hand it over every month, but it is for a totally different reason.”

I don't know about you, but hearing it put that way makes it so clear.  How I feel about my Savior is very personal to me.  Sometimes its hard to put  into words, but deep down what I feel is love and adoration.  

If you have a minute (or 32) watch him present his talk at this BYU devotional.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

-Marcie