Draw Near Unto Me

April Tribe Giauque
May 26
5 min read

President Erying

Written By April Giauque

God, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ. When we hear these names, do you think of them as real beings? Do you know them? Do you want to “draw near unto them?” For believers, these names are connected to the very creator of the universe and beyond. Yet, they desire that I draw near unto them. Why? How? Because they are family.

Heavenly Father is our actual father of our spirit and gave us the breath of life. Jesus Christ is our elder brother who sacrificed his life for each individual person ever conceived. They are family. They love us. They desire us to draw near unto them. We must learn of their character, power, Jesus' Life, but most importantly, we are here on earth to be tested. The test is, will you follow Satan or will you follow Jesus Christ and return to Heavenly Father? Which side will you pick? They want us to know them and build a relationship with Them.

President Erying desires us to get to know them as well. We must connect together and find joy in it! He said, “We take His name upon us when we enter His kingdom by covenant. He is the resurrected and glorified Son of God. We are mortals, subject to sin and death. Yet, in His love for each of us, the Savior invites us to come closer to Him.”

Here is Jesus’ invitation to us: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

President Erying shared that “there are times we feel close to the Savior Jesus Christ. And yet, sometimes during our mortal trials, we feel some distance from Him and wish for an assurance that He knows what is in our hearts and loves us as individuals.”

The Savior’s invitation includes the way to feel that assurance. There are three things to do,

Draw near Him by always remembering Him.
Seek Him diligently through scripture study.
Ask through heartfelt prayer to Heavenly Father to feel closer to His Beloved Son.

President Erying encourages us to think about the invitation like this:

What would you do if you were separated from dear friends for a time?

The answer: You would find a way to communicate with them, cherish any message you received from them, and do all you could to help them.

I testify that Jesus Christ loves each of us. Elder Eyring said, "He offers that opportunity to draw closer to Him. As with a loving friend, you will do it in much the same way, by communicating through prayer to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, listening for cherished guidance from the Holy Ghost, and then serving others for the Savior cheerfully. Soon, you would feel the blessing of drawing nearer to Him."

President Eyring recalls a story that happened to him, illustrating the desire he felt to “draw near unto the Savior.”

“It was a sacrament was an evening meeting that happened 75 years ago it was dark and cold outside. I remember a feeling of light and warmth as I realized that I had kept the commandment to gather with the Saints to partake of the sacrament, covenanting with our Heavenly Father always to remember His Son and keep His commandments.

At the end of that night's meeting, we sang the hymn “Abide with Me; ’Tis Eventide,” with the memorable words “O Savior, stay this night with me.”

These words brought me an overwhelming sense of the Spirit, even as a young boy. That evening, I felt the Savior’s love and closeness through the comfort of the Holy Ghost.

Years later, I wanted to rekindle the same feeling of the Savior’s love and closeness to the Lord during that sacrament meeting in my youth. I felt light and warmth as I took the sacrament. I kept the commandment to gather with the Saints.

Following that experience, President Eyring wanted to have more, so he sought out the scriptures. In the book of Luke, he read of the third day after His Crucifixion and burial, when faithful servants had come, out of love for the Savior, to anoint His body. When they arrived, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb and saw that His body was not there.

Two disciples walked from Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus, and the resurrected Lord appeared to them and walked with them. Jesus walked with them ate with them and then disappeared. They recalled, “Did our Heart not yet burn within us?”

“And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” The two disciples then rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the eleven Apostles what had happened. As they were sharing their experience, the Savior appeared again.

He stood in the midst of them and “saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” He then reviewed the prophecies of His mission to atone for the sins of all His Father’s children and to break the bands of death. “And ye are witnesses of these things.”

President Eyring reminds us that when we are baptized, we covenant with Jesus to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; “Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places … , even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, … that ye may have eternal life.”

As you are faithful to these promises, you will find that the Lord keeps His promise to be one with you in your service, making your burdens light. You will come to know the Savior, and in time you will come to be like Him and “be perfected in him.”

By helping others for the Savior, you will find that you are drawing nearer to Him.

Many of you have loved ones who are wandering off the path to eternal life. You wonder what more you can do to bring them back. You can depend on the Lord to draw closer to them as you serve Him in faith.

You may remember the Lord’s promise to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon when they were away from their families on His errands: “My friends Sidney and Joseph, your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power.”

President Eyring said that

“Every covenant servant of Jesus Christ will receive His direction from the Spirit as they bless and serve others for Him. Then they will feel the Savior’s love and find joy in being drawn closer to Him.”

He closes his talk with his testimony. “I am a witness of the Resurrection of the Lord as surely as if I had been there with the two disciples in the house on Emmaus road. I know that He lives.”

“This is His true Church—the Church of Jesus Christ. We will, on the Day of Judgment, stand before the Savior, face to face. It will be a time of great joy for those, in this life, who have drawn close to Him in His service and can eagerly anticipate hearing His words: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’”