“For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift” (D&C 88:33)

Do we value the gift of the atonement that Christ gave us, through repenting of our sins? If we don’t value that gift how can we value the giver, even Jesus Christ. And if we don’t value Christ, how can we value the giver, even The Father.

In a great talk about the atonement Gerald N. Lund related this parable: “Remembrance. Finally there is remembrance, which is perhaps the most important of them all. Some years ago, after I taught a class on the Atonement, one of the members, who was a practicing physician, handed me an article. He said, “I think in light of what you taught us tonight, you will find this interesting.” To my surprise, the article was from a medical journal called Private Practice and had nothing to do with religion, let alone Christ. In fact, it was an article about a mountain climbing school in Colorado that catered to doctors and other professional people. I was puzzled as I read through it, wondering why he had given it to me.

Then I came to something he had marked near the end of the article, and then I understood. It was another parable, of sorts, though it was not written with that intent. The author of the article was interviewing the man who ran the climbing school, whose name was Czenkusch. They were talking about one of the key techniques in rock climbing, knowing as “belaying.” To put it simply, belaying is the process by which one climber secures another climber so that he or she can safely ascend the rock face. This is done by having the lead climber loop a rope around his or her own body, then keeping the rope taut as the climber ascends so if there is a slip, the person on belay does not fall.

Understanding that much, here then is the paragraph that the doctor had marked for me:

Belaying has brought Czenkusch his best and worse moments in climbing. Czenkusch once fell from a high precipice, yanking out three mechanical supports and pulling his belayer off a ledge. He was stopped, upside down, 10 feet from the ground when his spread-eagled belayer arrested the fall with the strength of his outstretched arms. “Don saved my life,” says Czenkusch. “How do you respond to a guy like that? Give him a used climbing rope for Christmas? No, you remember him. You always remember him.” [9]
What a marvelous analogy! The Savior, by the power of His own life and infinite sacrifice, is able to arrest our fall and save us from death. How do we thank Him for that? A new climbing rope is not any more needed by God than a fat field mouse. But we can vow that we shall never forget the gift. And in fact, this principle is so important that God asks to put ourselves under covenant each and every week that we will always remember Him.”

Reading What the Atoning Sacrifice Meant for Jesus | Religious Studies Center in Voice Dream https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/my-redeemer-lives/what-atoning-sacrifice-meant-jesus-0

I thought that I should go ahead and be done and just post this, but the Spirit prompted, “not yet.” So, I continued cleaning the house. My favorite thing is to listen to my Voice Dream Reader app while I clean, drive, or to just enjoy my free time. I literally have hundreds of spiritual books and articles loaded in my reader. A little while later, I paused my reader and checked Facebook and there was a video by Elder Holland, posted by United Latter-day Saints, that grabbed my attention. Like a baby I cried and cried add I watched it. Our Savior has done for us what we can not do for ourselves, and if we would just obediently follow Him, He will raise us up unto Eternal life. In closing, enjoy this video.