Alma 12:8-11 -- On the Mysteries of God

"And Zeezrom began to inquire of them diligently, that he might know more concerning the kingdom of God. And he said unto Alma: What does this mean which Amulek hath spoken concerning the resurrection of the dead, that all shall rise from the dead, both the just and the unjust, and are brought to stand before God to be judged according to their works?

And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.

And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell."

Alma 12:8-11

Zeezrom, who was trying to prove Alma and Amulek wrong, here has the beginning of his change of heart, realizing that he believes them and wants to know what they know.  Perhaps because he had been trying to trap them in their words previously though, when Alma responds to him he doesn't immediately answer his question, but explains how the "mysteries of God" work, which is really good for all of us, because this is important to know.

The idea here is that the more that we accept God's word, the more we will get.  That is said elsewhere in the scriptures as well, but perhaps nowhere else more plainly.  I think the scariest part here is that Alma makes it clear that what we have already isn't just static knowledge, but that we gain *and* lose knowledge depending on how we treat the knowledge we already have.  That seems crazy at first that our minds could just leak that much, but I think anyone who has gone back and read something they've written several years in the past can understand the concept... even when you know that you wrote it, it can still somehow seem foreign, because we've changed, and we don't always have a good hold on what the goals and desires of our former selves were.  It's scary to think of losing things that we know, but it is also valuable to be reminded that if we don't value and nurture what we have, we could lose it.

Today, let's be careful to keep the spirit and to maintain and nurture what we know so that we can build on it rather than losing it. :)