Saturday, November 11, 2017

Jacob 6:6 -- On Not Dying

"Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?"
Jacob 6:6


Having death listed as the consequence for not listening to God might seem kind of "fire and brimstone" extreme.  After all, if we do something wrong, it isn't like we immediately drop dead.  I think that this is important though, perhaps because we don't take the consequences of our actions very seriously sometimes.

The verse, of course, is talking about spiritual death rather than physical death... but just like a slow, lingering disease, our progressive alienation from the Spirit of God can destroy us.  Conversion to God's gospel isn't something that we can do once and be saved forever.  It is a change in ourselves that has to be nurtured and sustained and accomplished over time, as we grow into better people, closer to our potential.

Like bad physical habits that make us unhealthy, bad spiritual habits can hurt us severely over time.  Not saying our prayers, or not going to church, or not reading our scriptures (for instance) are things that can starve us spiritually.

Today, let's choose not to die.  Let's soften our hearts, turn away from our wickedness, and live (Ezekiel 18:27-28).  Let's retune our spiritual senses so that we can once again hear the Lord, and grow in knowledge, understanding, and goodness with the Lord's help.

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