Walking Where Jesus Walked

Yesterday I had the pleasure of listening to a BYU-Idaho devotional given by President Monson's daughter, Ann M. Dibb. It was called, "My Father Is a Prophet," and Sister Dibb spoke very frankly about her dad and what it was like to see him called as Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (By the way, it was fun to note her strong resemblance to President Monson, including not just physical appearance but inflections and gestures.)

Because I am still thinking about it today, I wanted to share a portion of what this rather impressive woman said was the most powerful testimony she'd ever heard her father share. Apparently, it was given to the members of his home ward. Relating his experience of going to the Holy Land and walking on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus must have walked in the meridian of time, this is what President Monson said:

I may have walked where Jesus once walked, but what is more important to me is that today, I can walk where Jesus would walk if He were still with us. I can listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and minister to those the Savior would minister to today.

I try to never delay a prompting. When you honor a prompting and then stand back a pace, you realize that the Lord gave you the prompting. It makes me feel good that the Lord even knows who I am and knows me well enough to know that if He has an errand to be run and prompts me to run the errand, the errand will get done. That is the testimony of my life.

I'm afraid it isn't true as yet, but I would love to be able to say that God can always trust me to get the job done. I want to be a person the Lord knows He can count on, a friend who is constantly listening for that whisper of knowledge that one of His children needs comfort or assistance.

Of course, I have to be willing to do what it takes, and what it takes is drawing near enough to Christ so that I can hear Him. "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me..." (D&C 88:63). This proximity will ensure that I am close enough to be filled with His pure love and charitable enough to pour it out on others.

I'm not sure that I'll ever get the opportunity to walk where Jesus walked in Galilee, but surely I can discern His path today by following the needs of others and ministering to them. As long as I travel in His footsteps, I can "walk where Jesus would walk if He were still with us" and find my way home.

Consecration Prayer

©1999 by Susan Noyes Anderson, Awaken Your Spiritual Power, Karisma Press

I consecrate my soul to thee,

Who died for me on Calvary;

This life devoted to thy care,

Who hung and bled and suffered there;

This mind a sacred place wherein

No temptor’s power may enter in;

These eyes and ears and mouth are thine

To see, hear, speak thy truth divine;

This heart a fertile place to grow

The love thou plantest here below;

These arms thy servants day by day

To give thy seeds of love away;

These hands to nurture carefully

Each seedling gift of love to thee;

These legs to go where I am led,

To walk where thou wouldst have me tread.

May these feet in thy footsteps be

That I might find my way to thee.