In a very real sense, all can walk where Jesus walked when, with His words on our lips, His spirit in our hearts, and His teachings in our lives, we journey through mortality. I would hope that we would walk as He walked—with confidence in the future, with an abiding faith in His Father, and with a genuine love for others.
Jesus walked the path of temptation.
That evil one, amassing his greatest strength, his most inviting sophistry, tempted Him who had fasted for forty days and forty nights and was “an hungered.” Came the taunt: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” The reply: “Man shall not live by bread alone.”
Again, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee.” The answer: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
Still again: “The kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them … will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” The Master replied, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt. 4:2–10.)
Jesus walked the path of pain.
Consider the agony of Gethsemane. “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. … And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:42, 44.)
And who among us can forget the cruelty of the cross. His words: “I thirst. … It is finished.” (John 19:28, 30.)
Yes, each of us will walk the path of disappointment, perhaps due to an opportunity lost, a power misused, or a loved one not taught. The path of temptation, too, will be the path of each. “And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves.” (D&C 29:39.)
While we walk these paths which bring forth bitter sorrow, we can also walk those paths which yield eternal joy.
We, with Jesus, can walk the path of obedience.
It will not be easy. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” (Heb. 5:8.) Let our watchword be the heritage bequeathed us by Samuel: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” (1 Sam. 15:22.) Let us remember that the end result of disobedience is captivity and death, while the reward for obedience is liberty and eternal life.
We, like Jesus, can walk the path of service.
Like a glowing searchlight of goodness is the life of Jesus as He ministered among men. He brought strength to the limbs of the cripple, sight to the eyes of the blind, hearing to the ears of the deaf, and life to the body of the dead.
His parables preach power. With the good Samaritan He taught: “Love … thy neighbour.” (Luke 10:27.) Through His kindness to the woman taken in adultery, He taught compassionate understanding. In His parable of the talents, He taught each of us to improve himself and to strive for perfection. Well could He have been preparing us for our journey along His pathway.
Finally, He walked the path of prayer.
Three great lessons from three timeless prayers. First, from His ministry: “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” (Luke 11:2.)
Second, from Gethsemane: “Not my will, but thine, be done.” (Luke 22:42.)
Third, from the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34.)
It is by walking the path of prayer that we commune with the Father and become partakers of His power.
Shall we have the faith, even the desire, to walk these pathways that Jesus walked? God’s prophets, seers, and revelators have invited us to do so. All we need do is follow them, for this is the pathway they walk.
Jesus changed men. He changed their habits, their opinions, their ambitions. He changed their tempers, their dispositions, their natures. He changed men’s hearts.
As we direct our footsteps along the paths that Jesus walked, let us remember the testimony Jesus gave: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. … I am the light and … life of the world.” (3 Ne. 11:10–11.) “I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.” (D&C 110:4.)
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