In the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 5 Alma is
speaking to members of the church in Zarahemla. He says:
19 I say unto
you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say
unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your
countenances?
21 I say unto
you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be
saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified
until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has
been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their
sins.
22 And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel,
if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with
blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify
against you?
27 Have ye
walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were
called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently
humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood
of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?
After
reading these verses and picture came to my mind:
Imagine yourself in the temple. You are
sitting, waiting to go into the Celestial room where you will have the
opportunity to meet the Savior, Jesus Christ. You have dressed in the most
beautiful white dress possible and have dressed very carefully for this special
time. As you are waiting you look down lovingly at your dress and find to your
horror that it has somehow been soiled with big spots of mud. You desperately
try to rub the mud off but it only gets ground deeper into the fibers of the
dress and all your actions seem to make the mud spots worse. Tears sting your
eyes and you want to run and hide. You don’t want them to call your name when
it is your turn to meet the Savior.
Your
name is called and slowly, reluctantly, and shamefully you enter the room. The
tears are freely flowing down your face and your eyes are downcast. You can’t
bring yourself to look into the eyes of the Savior. Gently and lovingly the
Savior lifts your chin and kindly looks into your eyes. His hand softly touches
the soiled places on your dress and where the mud spots used to be a brilliant
white fabric is seen. Your dress has “ been
cleansed and made white through the blood
of Christ.”
The
atonement of Jesus Christ gives us the chance to repent of those things that we
do wrong so that we can stand blameless before God with a pure heart and clean
hands.
