Are you committed?

Yesterday I attended a ward conference. I heard the same talk that our Stake President gave at the last ward conference I attended. I'm in the Stake Young Men's, and part of my calling is visiting different wards in the stake. This is the second time I've heard this talk, and the Spirit has pierced my heart and soul both times. In his talk, he told a story of when he played high school basketball. He had been in the game, scored a few points, grabbed a few rebounds. He was feeling good about himself. The coach pulled him out of the game, and asked him, "Are you committed?" The coach instructed him to sit on the bench and watch the game, and see if he was committed. As he watched players dive for the ball, and jump back up into the game, he realized that he was contributing, but not fully committed. He told the coach after some time, that he was ready to go back in the game, and he was ready to be committed. Although, he had scored a few points, and grabbed a few rebounds, he was capable of doing a lot more. Unfortunately for him, the coach told him to sit on the bench for the rest of the game. It was a painful lesson. He then compared the story to life and the gospel. Are we just contributing, or are we committed? I've found in the past few months, I've been contributing, but have I really been committed? The atonement that was made by our Savior allows us to be like Him, to better ourselves, but it requires us to be committed. The nice thing is that we don't have to sit the bench. We can jump into the game now! The only thing that is stopping us is ourselves. I've experienced many times in my life when I've stretched and committed, the Savior stands right by my side and pushes and pulls and lifts and carries me to be the son of God that I've been called to be. I testify this is true for all of Heavenly Father's children. Now let's play the game!