To Save:
* to salvage: save from ruin, destruction, or harm
* to bring into safety
* to deliver: save from sins
*to spare/refrain from harming
Last night I lay in bed with my mind whirling. Just before bed I was reading a book that made me reflect on how much our lives can be changed and altered by negative experiences in our past, oftentimes experiences that were entirely out of our control or at the control of someone else. As I say my prayers each night, the people in need of prayers is lengthy. A girl who lacks the affections of attentive mature parents. A girl with good parents that just aren't around enough to let their good influence be felt. A woman struggling in the depths of depression. Kids who come to church and sit in the foyer each week because their parents are inactive. Girls who were sexually abused and suffer with ramifications of their worth. Boys and men who have lost themselves to addictions they can't conquer. Grown men who have lost confidence because they've lost jobs or wives. Children suffering from the divorce or desertion of their parents. People grieving the loss of a loved one. Teenagers who feel overwhelmingly alone. There are so many people suffering. At times like last night, it is overwhelming. I think to myself, "How can it be done? How can all these people ever be saved? How can the overcome all the effects of negative situations or actions? How can they be whole again?" Last night I wept as these thoughts and these people were running through my mind. But as I lay there, the Spirit bore witness to my heart that it CAN be done. They could be saved. Through our Savior, Jesus Christ. I don't think that title of Savior has ever gripped me before as it did last night. Not only does Christ through His atonement have the power to save us from physical death, but He has the power to save us from our burdens, to save us from the effects of sins, whether they be our own sins or the sins of others. For so many of our sufferings, the world offers little hope in the way of saving. The world merely offers hope that we'll be able to cope well. But the Savior offers to save us, from everything. His atonement gave Him the power and ability to do just that. He said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)." It doesn't seem possible. It doesn't seem possible that all of us can be saved from all of this, by something so simple as coming unto Him. But I know it is true. I know that more than anything else, He is our Savior.
