There was once a big turntable bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down .the river parallel with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a certain train would come along. and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river to allow it to cross.
A switchman sat in a small shack on one
side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and
lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman was
waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance
through the dimming twilight and caught eight of the train's light. He
stepped to the controls and waited until the train was within a prescribed
distance, when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position,
but to his horror, he found the locking control didn't work. If the bridge
was not locked securely
into position, it would wobble back and
forth at the ends when the train came on it, causing the train to jump
the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train
with many people aboard.
He left the bridge turned across the river and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever which he could use to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train passed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.
Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. "Daddy, where are you?" His four year old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left the lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety, but he realized he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die.
He took just a moment to make his decision. The train sped swiftly and safely on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny, broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of a sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They didn't see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked--to tell his wife how he had sacrificed her son.
Now, if you can comprehend the emotions which went through this man's heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Heavenly Father when he sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that he caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died? And how does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ? When was the last time you thanked Him for the sacrifice of His Son?
Each of us will taste the bitter ashes of life, from sin and neglect to sorrow and disappointment. But the atonement of Christ can lift us up in beauty from our ashes on the wings of a sure promise of immortality and eternal life. He will thus lift us up, not only at the end of life, but in each day of our lives.
Bruce C. Hafen
God sent his Only Begotten Son to earth to do at least two things that no other person could have done. The first task Christ did... was to redeem all mankind from the Fall, providing an atonement for Adam's sin and for our own sins if we will accept and follow him. The second great thing he did was to set a perfect example of right living, of kindness and mercy and compassion, in order that all of the rest of mankind might know how to live, know how to improve, and know how to become more godlike.
President Howard W. Hunter
We must know Christ better than we know him. We must remember him more often than we remember him; we must serve him more valiantly than we serve him.
President Howard W. Hunter
n a very real way (the Savior) visits us, each one, with His teachings. He brings cheer and inspires goodness. He gave His precious life that the grave would be deprived of its victory, that death would lose its sting, that life eternal would be our gift.
President Thomas S. Monson