Our Relationship With God

This morning, I read a talk by Elder Holland posted on the LDS.org homepage titled: "Knowing the Godhead." This quote stuck out to me:

"A God who cares about [us] as tenderly as a parent cares for a child cannot be an ethereal mist or a vague philosophical First Cause or a deistic absentee landlord. He must be recognized for what He truly is—a merciful, compassionate Father, in whose image every one of His children has been made and before Whom all of us will one day again stand—and then kneel!" -Elder Holland

As I read this quote in a talk this morning, I felt grateful to have a testimony and a knowledge of this God, the God, our God who loves and cares for us each individually as a parent cares for His children. I know that God is real, that we are made in His image, and that because He loves us all very much, His purpose is to bring us back home to Him.

Thinking of returning home to Him someday makes me think of another quote, this one said by President Benson: “Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar his face is to us.” I love some of what this quote implies--that before we came to this earth, we knew Heavenly Father very personally. 

However, I admit that the more I think about this quote, the more part of it bothers me. I don't want to be startled at how familiar Heavenly Father is when I get up to Heaven! I don't want it to be a moment of shock, like someone coming out of a lifetime of amnesia! Rather, I want to live my life in a way that I come to know Him again in this life, and if possible, to know Him better than I did before. That way, when I do get up to Heaven and see His face, instead of thinking: "Oh my goodness! How could I have ever forgotten?" I can think: "Oh my goodness! I'm so grateful I remembered!"

Once again, I bear my testimony that God is real, and that He really does love us. I know from personal experience that He hears and answers prayers and that He sends angels--often in the form of friends and family--to lift us when we're low. I know that He wants the best for each of us, and that as we come to know Him better, our lives will be enriched.

I end my thoughts with a scripture found in John 17:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Eternal life doesn't start tomorrow, or next month, or next year, or in the life after this one. Eternal life starts right now, and that means our relationship with God has to start right now too. Kneel to Him in prayer tonight with real intent, and I promise that it will.