Prepare the Way

1 Nephi 10
Heroes prepare the way for others to be heroes. Lehi taught his family that “the Lord God [would] raise up among the Jews…a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world” to redeem all men and women from their “lost…and fallen state.” He “spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord.” John the Baptist was that hero Lehi spoke of who prepared the way for many of the Jews to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. John taught and baptized the people and told them to look for one that was “mightier” than he. Then he bore “record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world.”

Heroes are like “The Bridge Builder” who crossed the “chasm vast and deep and wide” and then paused to build a bridge so that the youth following after him would be able to cross it safely and achieve success, too. President Thomas S. Monson shared how heroes inspire and help us to be better in “My Personal Hall of Fame.”  He said heroes “set our hearts afire with devotion to the truth, [they] make obedience to duty seem the essence of manhood, [they] transform some ordinary routine occurrence so that it becomes a vista whence we see the person we aspire to be….

“Some may question: ‘But what is the value of such an illustrious list of heroes, even a private Hall of Fame?’ I answer. When we obey, as did Adam, endure as did Job, teach as did Paul, testify as did Peter, serve as did Nephi, give ourselves as did the prophet Joseph, respond as did Ruth, honor as did Mary, and live as did Christ, we are born anew. All power becomes ours. Cast off forever is the old self and with it defeat, despair, doubt, and disbelief. To a newness of life we come—a life of faith, hope, courage, and joy. No task looms too large. No responsibility weighs too heavily. No duty is a burden. All things become possible.”

Jesus Christ is our greatest hero. Jesus Christ was born to show us and teach us how to live that we may “be like Him” (see 1 John 3:2). He was slain for the sins of the world, for our sins, that we might “repent and come unto him.” All things become possible for us to do and to be when we believe in Christ and his power to redeem and heal and help (see Mark 9:23). For “as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal” (Hel. 8:15).

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