Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give thee rest.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give thee rest.
Matthew 19:14
Suffer the little children to come unto me.
Suffer the little children to come unto me.
2 Nephi 26:33
He invited them all to come unto him.
He invited them all to come unto him.
My favorite scripture of invitation is the beautiful verse in Isaiah 9:12
I picture a father on his knees with arms stretched out to the young child taking his first steps. That invitation brims with love and kindness.
"...but his hand is stretched out still."
I picture a father on his knees with arms stretched out to the young child taking his first steps. That invitation brims with love and kindness.
That is my vision of God - always there, always inviting, always encouraging, always loving.
I expect He will be there for all eternity - until we all decide we've had enough of our wayward travels - our prodigal moments - and we want to go home. No more than I could close the door on those I love, neither will He close the door on those He loves. We just need to accept the invitation - which is an invitation to be like Him so that we will be glad to be in His presence.
Inclusive, Image and Invite are similar, you see. His loving invitations are for all. The question then is the door. What is that door?
Is it a passageway - an actual place we pass through? No!
I believe the answer lies in that phrase quote His image in your countenance and quote we see the answer in Moroni 7:48 and in D&C 121:45-46.
Moroni 7:48
Moroni 7:48
...that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we will see him as he is, that we may have this hope, that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.
D&C 121:45-46.
Let thy bowels also be full of charity toward all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter and unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth, and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.
The door - that passageway into celestial realms - represents our image - when we truly have taken His image upon us, we can go home - we will BE home.
That image may still be in its infancy, but when the desire is there, when we truly want to be there, we are welcomed into God's presence - all made possible because of Christ atonement.
I love our hymns of invitation:
Come, Follow Me
Come Unto Jesus
Come Unto Him
Come, Ye Disconsolate
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