"And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.
And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men."
Mosiah 4:1-2
I like the progression here. King Benjamin told the people the words of the angel, and although the fear of the Lord usually means "respect" or "reverence" maybe it really did inspire some actual fear as well, in terms of where they were headed in life and what would become of their souls. Whatever the exact emotion though, it wasn't one of despair or hopelessness. God never shows us our faults in order to destroy our motivation, but only to help us see the reality of the situation and how much we need him. These people clearly saw that, and they turned to him and pleaded for mercy.
I think there are times like this in all of our lives, where we clearly see ourselves, and the mistakes we've made and the distance between what we are and who we really would like to be. Sometimes it is so stark that we feel like we want to give up, and that we'll never make it. That's totally Satan influencing us though. God only wants times like that to inspire us to change, and to motivate us to do what it takes to be the people that we really want to be. None of that is easy, but if we go with the example of King Benjamin's people here, we can cry to the Lord for mercy and help in becoming more than we are... which is his whole work, and the object of his love, to help us to become everything that we can be and that we choose to be.
Today, let's see reality but not let it get us down. God will help us. Things will get better, and work out in the end. Let's trust and work for positive change, in ourselves and in the world around us. :)
And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men."
Mosiah 4:1-2
I like the progression here. King Benjamin told the people the words of the angel, and although the fear of the Lord usually means "respect" or "reverence" maybe it really did inspire some actual fear as well, in terms of where they were headed in life and what would become of their souls. Whatever the exact emotion though, it wasn't one of despair or hopelessness. God never shows us our faults in order to destroy our motivation, but only to help us see the reality of the situation and how much we need him. These people clearly saw that, and they turned to him and pleaded for mercy.
I think there are times like this in all of our lives, where we clearly see ourselves, and the mistakes we've made and the distance between what we are and who we really would like to be. Sometimes it is so stark that we feel like we want to give up, and that we'll never make it. That's totally Satan influencing us though. God only wants times like that to inspire us to change, and to motivate us to do what it takes to be the people that we really want to be. None of that is easy, but if we go with the example of King Benjamin's people here, we can cry to the Lord for mercy and help in becoming more than we are... which is his whole work, and the object of his love, to help us to become everything that we can be and that we choose to be.
Today, let's see reality but not let it get us down. God will help us. Things will get better, and work out in the end. Let's trust and work for positive change, in ourselves and in the world around us. :)
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