after all WE can do

Tonight I attended a fireside by Brad Wilcox. I remember him from my EFY days and he is a great speaker! Actually, while I was there this evening I kind of felt like I was back at EFY attending a lecture by him and I loved it! EFY speakers talk to a sea of youth for about 40 minutes at a time. So, they always start with interesting/funny stories and have this amazing talent to keep your attention as they talk about an aspect of the gospel. In many ways, they bring the topic alive for you or help you understand it/think about it in ways you never have before.

Tonight was no exception.

The topic of his remarks centered on the scripture in 2 Nephi 25:23. "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

He focused solely on the last phrase "After All we can do."

I know I have never really understood this phrase and have always thought that I just need to work, and work, and work some more before I even have a chance at returning to live with my Heavenly Father again. I think there is this fear that I'll miss the mark by 2 points or something because I didn't really do "ALL" that I could. And, gosh, even I know if that is true, at this point in my life, I KNOW I wouldn't be getting into heaven because I've definitely not done ALL I could up to this point! But, it's still a thought I've pondered because... don't we all need to continuously "Put our shoulder to the wheel and push along"?!!!

Anyway, this talk was obviously meant for me. Throughout his remarks, he gave some great examples of how it's the Savior who has offered us the opportunity to "TOGETHER" (the Savior and I walking together hand in hand) be saved. He gave this one example... a mother pays a piano teacher to teach her child. The child can't pay the mother back in money, and the teacher can't play for the child, but the child can learn from the teacher and practice in order to "pay" the mother back by gaining talent in the beautiful musical instrument. She doesn't expect absolute perfection in her child, but she wants him/her to practice, try their best, and use the help the piano teacher provides. That's the way it is for us. The Lord isn't asking us to just be mediocre and slack off because the Savior will do it all on his own... or to be absolutely perfect on our own. But, through the grace that the Savior has given us, he has provided the way that we can return to our Heavenly Father TOGETHER. First we must try our best to become all we can "be"... and then TOGETHER (the Savior and I) will be saved after all WE (The Savior and I) can do.

Ha, he did a much better job explaining it than I ever could. There's a reason why I am not an EFY speaker! But, at least it makes sense to me and that bring me peace of mind!