Helaman 11:7

"And it came to pass that the people saw that they were about to perish by famine, and they began to remember the Lord their God; and they began to remember the words of Nephi."
Helaman 11:7


Why does it take looking into the face of death to pull us out of our complacency sometimes?  In this chapter, because of the famine and the fear of death, the people remember God, and they repent... but then close to the end of the chapter, many of them put themselves back in the exact same position, turning really wicked, robbing and plundering by day and defying all attempts by the government to stop it because there were so many that had joined with them.  And although hopefully none of us are as bad off as those robbers were... I think that in our lives there is a similar pattern.  It often takes something dramatic to get us to remember God, and then as soon as we feel safe again, we let ourselves forget.  Truthfully, we can't afford that kind of foul-weather friendship with God.  God does love us, and he won't turn us away in times of trouble if we come unto him sincerely, but to develop a good relationship with him, we need to dedicate a little more time... and put some effort into it, just like other relationships that we want to maintain.  Instead of imagining that we're going to die in a week and putting ourselves in drama mode in order to remember him... let's try to escape that cycle, and go to him today in our regular everyday mode.  Let's talk to him as we would to a friend, and tell him what is up with us... what we've been thinking about... what we feel like we need to change in our lives.  If we get used to talking to him when things aren't so dramatic, maybe they will get that way less often, because we won't need such a big reminder. :)