Accept His Gift

1 Nephi 15:32

And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation.

What I do in this life matters. I cannot earn my way into heaven, but I can disqualify myself. As a probationer in mortality, I started off with a clean slate when I was born. God sent me into the world with a conscience, called the Light of Christ, to give me a moral sense of right and wrong. Making right choices simply keeps my slate clean. Making wrong choices, however, puts black marks on my slate. 

We are all going to make mistakes that deface our clean slate. If we learn from our mistakes and correct them, we limit the number of black marks. But how do we remove the marks we made before we knew better? 

That is where Christ's atonement comes in. He gives me the opportunity and ability to repent. I can turn my past black marks over to the Redeemer, and He will erase them. At the end of the day, however, even with perfect repentance, the best I can do is return to the clean slate I started with. 

The good news is that a clean slate is all I need to satisfy the terms of my probation and return to live with my Father and His Son. When infants and little children die before they reach the age of accountability, they are innocent. Their slates are clean, and they enter automatically into the kingdom of God. 

When Christ asked His followers to become as little children, He didn't mean for them to become childish, but to become innocent, clean, and pure. I don't need to accomplish some great feat to earn my way into heaven; I simply need to be as innocent as a little child. 

Jesus performed the one and only great feat required to admit me into heaven. It's up to me to accept His gift.