"And the Amalekites were not converted, save only one; neither were any of the Amulonites; but they did harden their hearts, and also the hearts of the Lamanites in that part of the land wheresoever they dwelt, yea, and all their villages and all their cities."
Alma 23:14
In this chapter it talks about whole lands and cities where the people were converted, but when it gets to this point, talking about these lands and cities, it mentions that only one person was converted out of all of those people. The difference between the Lamanites who were converted and the Amalekites and Amulonites who weren't is that those two groups had previously known the gospel, and chose to walk away from it in the past. The next chapter concludes "And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things" (Alma 24:30).
I think we see that and understand that in our own lives, that acting against God or choosing something else other than him causes us to throw up walls ... of justification or whatever that make it easier to choose similarly in the future. It's kind of a self-protection from guilt, but the end result is the above, where it really, seriously affects our ability to go back and make a different decision in the future. And so today, I want to celebrate the person referred to in this verse as the "only one" who was in that situation and chose to convert anyway. It is super hard to let go of our objections, to lower our walls, to admit that we were wrong, and to allow God back into our lives when we have intentionally walked away from him in the past. It takes strength to break through our own objections, and integrity to challenge our own assumptions to be open enough to find God again after refusing his invitation.
Today, let's be as amazing as that one person was. Let's be willing to stand out from the crowd and to be the exception. Let's be like that single, amazing Amalekite--willing to open up to God, even though we have closed our hearts and our minds in the past. Let's rise above our former bad choices and be willing to change, and really seek God.
Alma 23:14
In this chapter it talks about whole lands and cities where the people were converted, but when it gets to this point, talking about these lands and cities, it mentions that only one person was converted out of all of those people. The difference between the Lamanites who were converted and the Amalekites and Amulonites who weren't is that those two groups had previously known the gospel, and chose to walk away from it in the past. The next chapter concludes "And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things" (Alma 24:30).
I think we see that and understand that in our own lives, that acting against God or choosing something else other than him causes us to throw up walls ... of justification or whatever that make it easier to choose similarly in the future. It's kind of a self-protection from guilt, but the end result is the above, where it really, seriously affects our ability to go back and make a different decision in the future. And so today, I want to celebrate the person referred to in this verse as the "only one" who was in that situation and chose to convert anyway. It is super hard to let go of our objections, to lower our walls, to admit that we were wrong, and to allow God back into our lives when we have intentionally walked away from him in the past. It takes strength to break through our own objections, and integrity to challenge our own assumptions to be open enough to find God again after refusing his invitation.
Today, let's be as amazing as that one person was. Let's be willing to stand out from the crowd and to be the exception. Let's be like that single, amazing Amalekite--willing to open up to God, even though we have closed our hearts and our minds in the past. Let's rise above our former bad choices and be willing to change, and really seek God.
No comments:
Post a Comment