A Personal Interview With the Savior

President Nelson wrote the following about our judgment: “Judgment Day awaits each of us. I know that ‘the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there’ (2 Nephi 9:41).  Yes, each of us will have a personal interview with Jesus Christ.  Each day on earth gives you time and opportunity to prepare for that interview.”  So what will that interview be like?  What kind of questions will the Savior ask us?  Do the scriptures teach us anything about that interview?  In the parable of the talents I think we learn something about what the Lord expects of us. For the servant who received five talents and gained five more, the lord responded, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”  It was the same praise for the one who received two talents and gained two more.  But to the servant who did nothing with the talent he received, the lord condemned him, “Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:21, 30).  The message for us is that if we have done nothing to use the blessings and gifts the Lord has given us, it could be an uncomfortable interview.

               I think there are a few other kinds of questions the Savior may ask us.  He taught, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).  Surely there will be questions about our obedience to the commandments of the Lord.  We can likely expect questions about our family relationships as well.  To Cain the Lord said, “Where is Abel, thy brother?”  Cain tried to suggest that he was not his “brother’s keeper,” but we know that the Lord will expect far more than this (Moses 5:34).  We can plan for questions from Him about how well we have been our brother’s (and mother’s and father’s and sister’s…) keeper.  The scriptures also teach us that in the final judgment we will have to account for our stewardships on earth.  The Lord said simply to the Prophet Joseph: “And an account of this stewardship will I require of them in the day of judgment” (D&C 70:4).  He also said, “It is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward, to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity” (D&C 72:3).  I have to think, though, that the most pressing question will be about how we tread those around us.  The Savior taught simply, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).  There will surely be questions about how we loved our neighbor and all the people that the Lord put in our paths throughout our lives. 

               Now is the time for us to prepare for that interview, and we can live our lives with the expectation that “for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment” (1 Nephi 10:20).  We must “choose to live on the Lord’s side” as President Nelson taught, and making that choice every day will surely help us be ready for that day when we discuss our lives with the Savior.