I'm involved in a local church choir, which rehearses on Sunday afternoons. We are singing an arrangement of a hymn that is very well-known among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The words were written by Bruce R. McConkie. As we rehearsed the song, I noticed something about one of the lines. It was tremendously hopeful. I, and millions of others in the world, have been singing this hymn for years and it wasn't until now that I noticed this.
The words are:
"And I shall live with joy and love in his eternal courts above."
This is similar to a verse near the end of the Book of Mormon: Moroni 7:41. I notice the certain conviction implied in the use of I shall and ye shall. I think there are too many people who are in doubt as to whether they will actually make it to heaven, whether they will ever measure up to the perfect standards set by Jesus Christ. More and more I am realizing that it is that very same perfect being that makes it possible for us to come home to God at all. God and Jesus Christ don't want us to live lives of worry and disappointment, They created us to have joy! It is possible for each of us to live with God and our loved ones again! Bruce R. McConkie believed that, and we should too.
I am grateful for an exceptionally hopeful and encouraging hymn lyric.
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