"Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God."
Alma 17:2
This is a great reunion for Alma, and it makes me think of what our reunions will be like. Surely before this life we had friends... and we also have friends in this life that we have known and then lost touch with. How will it be when we meet everyone again? We get a taste occasionally: sometimes we meet people for the first time and it *feels* like a reunion. Pre-mortal friends? I don't pretend to know, but it seems like a good possibility.
The part I like the most about the scripture is, "what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord." If you remember this story, Alma and the Sons of Mosiah were little creeps. They had their own little gang, and their goal was destroying the church. Then they saw an angel, and that was the turning point. Remarkably, they were as motivated to work for the church as they had been to work against it, and as the scripture says, they "waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth." I think that is amazing. To realize that they had been wrong, to be publicly chastised, and to turn around so completely and faithfully, and remain true.
Perhaps we don't have an angel appearing to us as motivation, but we can take these former bad guys as an example. We can wax strong in the knowledge of the truth. We can read and study and learn to be better than we are... and then the already incredible reunions that we anticipate will be even more joyful.
Alma 17:2
This is a great reunion for Alma, and it makes me think of what our reunions will be like. Surely before this life we had friends... and we also have friends in this life that we have known and then lost touch with. How will it be when we meet everyone again? We get a taste occasionally: sometimes we meet people for the first time and it *feels* like a reunion. Pre-mortal friends? I don't pretend to know, but it seems like a good possibility.
The part I like the most about the scripture is, "what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord." If you remember this story, Alma and the Sons of Mosiah were little creeps. They had their own little gang, and their goal was destroying the church. Then they saw an angel, and that was the turning point. Remarkably, they were as motivated to work for the church as they had been to work against it, and as the scripture says, they "waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth." I think that is amazing. To realize that they had been wrong, to be publicly chastised, and to turn around so completely and faithfully, and remain true.
Perhaps we don't have an angel appearing to us as motivation, but we can take these former bad guys as an example. We can wax strong in the knowledge of the truth. We can read and study and learn to be better than we are... and then the already incredible reunions that we anticipate will be even more joyful.
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