BYU-Idaho President Alvin F. Meredith III and Sister Jennifer Meredith gave talks in the first devotional of this year’s Fall Semester on the BYU-Idaho campus, welcoming the largest incoming class to ever attend BYU-Idaho.
They both shared messages of discipleship, with President Meredith urging listeners to focus on becoming covenant-keeping disciples.
“The power and confidence granted to covenant-keepers help them as they strive to become true disciples of Christ. On one level, discipleship is about what we believe and what we do. The Cambridge dictionary defines a disciple as ‘a person who believes in the ideas and principles of someone famous and tries to live the way that person does or did.’ But at an even higher level, discipleship transcends what we do and focuses more on what we become,” President Meredith said in his talk.
Sister Meredith told the audience about the importance of building their relationship with God, highlighting the ways they can see His love in their lives.
“The greatest measure God has employed to bring us home, and the greatest evidence
of His love for us was the offering of His Son, creating a portal for our safe return. The greatest evidence of the Son’s love for us was submitting to the Father’s will,” Sister Meredith said in her devotional talk.
She also shared a story in her talk about how her son, Chase, thought his younger brother, Ethan, had gotten lost. Chase relentlessly searched for Ethan and when he found him, Chase was overcome with relief.
“I could see in a very tangible way right in front of my eyes that if a 12-year-old boy, who’s an imperfect, mortal young man can have that much love for his four-year-old brother, just imagine the love that our Savior has as He’s searching for us and the joy He feels,” Sister Meredith said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio.
President Meredith encouraged students to attend the temple to grow closer to Jesus Christ.
He also reminded listeners that it’s important to have patience with yourself, no matter where you are starting from in your journey to becoming a disciple.
“The Lord is much more concerned about the direction that we’re headed than where we are. And be kind to yourself. What the Lord really cares about is that you’re striving,” President Meredith said in the BYU-Idaho Radio interview.
You can listen to more messages from upcoming devotionals on KBYI 94.3 FM or stream them live Tuesdays at 11:30 a.m. on BYU-Idaho Devotionals | BYU-Idaho (byui.edu).