Alma 37:46 -- On the Easiness of The Way

"O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever."
Alma 37:46


It is interesting to talk about "the easiness of the way" because we don't often think about salvation (or life) as easy... however, perhaps in some ways it is.  I think that we make things much harder than they actually are by how we react to things, particularly when we are afraid of facing them, or feel overwhelmed by them.  In many cases in my own life I know that anxiety, procrastination, and/or impatience seem to be 80% of the difficulty level.

Then there's rebellion/unbelief of course.  Kind of like Moses lifting up the brass serpent for the people to be saved--how many times in our lives do we have a solution before us that we just assume is TOO simple or that just won't work, and so we don't even raise our eyes to look, or make the simple effort to try?

Remembering stories from Christ's life make me think that the easy way he is talking about isn't just some random path... it is a specific, narrow one.  His way is *THE* way.  When Christ was on earth he knew when to get money out of a fish's mouth, where to get a donkey to ride, where to eat, with only the preparation that his father had made for him ahead of time.  The way was prepared, and if he walked in that way, everything would be there for him that he needed.

I think what this verse is saying is that God has done this for ALL of us.  If we reach out with trust and faith, the way is prepared... just like the red sea, Laban falling down drunk, the brass serpent, or the walls of Jericho.  There is an easier way for all of us, if we listen to the spirit, and pray and talk to the Lord.  We can't be slothful because then, like the ancient Israelites, we might have to spend 40 years in the wilderness because we don't have the faith to go now... or like the more modern early latter-day-saints who were unable to lay hold on all of the blessings that the Lord offered them.  We still have an awful lot to learn, and we are still living well beneath our privileges.  Not because God doesn't want to give them to us, but because we aren't including God in our lives and having faith to walk with him, trusting in the future rather than afraid of it.

... I'm not saying it is easy to do all of these things.  I am only saying I think it *can* be... that it is designed to be.  The more we trust God and legitimately and sincerely rely on him, having faith that he can do exactly what he has told us countless times that he can do... the more God will show us that truth, and the more we can walk in the way... his way, which is much, much easier than the way that we are trying to make without his help.

Today, let's work on walking in his way, and I think we will find that it is easier than the anxious, fearful, and rebellious way that we have been walking. :)