"Wherefore, in my days, I would that ye should know that I fought much with the sword to preserve my people, the Nephites, from falling into the hands of their enemies, the Lamanites. But behold, I of myself am a wicked man, and I have not kept the statutes and the commandments of the Lord as I ought to have done."
Omni 1:2
This verse is interesting because it isn't the word of a prophet or a king that we usually hear from. Instead, it is a man who considers himself to be wicked, but who obviously values the statutes and the commandments of God, and feels like he *should* have followed them.
I really relate to Omni here, and perhaps we have all felt this at some point in our lives--that we should have done much better in following the Lord. We don't know a lot about Omni, to know whether he chose to be more righteous later and turn his life around, but we *definitely* have that option, and when we feel this way, that is exactly the time that we need to get on our knees and make a change. It likely wouldn't have been easy for Omni, and it probably won't be easy for us either. Repentance is hard, because we not only have to change our actions, but our hearts. God will help us, so it is ALWAYS possible, but it does require effort.
Lest we give up because the whole thing reeks of effort though, let's think about Omni, and perhaps what kind of verse we want written about our lives. Do we want people to read about us and only know that we were wicked? Is who we are now who we want to be for eternity? Many prophets and apostles also struggled with sin and wickedness, but they persisted and changed, and *that* is what made the difference. We are all sinners, but God can change us, and in the end it can still be said of us that we were good. Today, let's strive for that, and take the incremental steps today so that we can all work our way up to where we want to be, with God's help. :)
Omni 1:2
This verse is interesting because it isn't the word of a prophet or a king that we usually hear from. Instead, it is a man who considers himself to be wicked, but who obviously values the statutes and the commandments of God, and feels like he *should* have followed them.
I really relate to Omni here, and perhaps we have all felt this at some point in our lives--that we should have done much better in following the Lord. We don't know a lot about Omni, to know whether he chose to be more righteous later and turn his life around, but we *definitely* have that option, and when we feel this way, that is exactly the time that we need to get on our knees and make a change. It likely wouldn't have been easy for Omni, and it probably won't be easy for us either. Repentance is hard, because we not only have to change our actions, but our hearts. God will help us, so it is ALWAYS possible, but it does require effort.
Lest we give up because the whole thing reeks of effort though, let's think about Omni, and perhaps what kind of verse we want written about our lives. Do we want people to read about us and only know that we were wicked? Is who we are now who we want to be for eternity? Many prophets and apostles also struggled with sin and wickedness, but they persisted and changed, and *that* is what made the difference. We are all sinners, but God can change us, and in the end it can still be said of us that we were good. Today, let's strive for that, and take the incremental steps today so that we can all work our way up to where we want to be, with God's help. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment