"Behold, I can tell you—did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi? And was he not a holy prophet? Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them?
And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.
And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.
And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"
Alma 5:11-14
I think it is interesting that Alma was asking this to members of Christ's church. Clearly, whether we come from a religious tradition or not, or any outward appearance, we have internal differences in testimony and dedication. Alma knew this about his people, and he resigned as Chief Judge and went out to preach, because he was worried about the souls of the people that he was responsible for. And this is Alma the younger, the one that initially rebelled against his father and sought to destroy the church. He knows the temptation and the heartbreak of sin, and he honestly wants to save people from suffering. And fortunately, despite the tendency that we all have to tune out people who are trying to "save" us from our mistakes, he was able to get through to many people.
The core of these verses is the question "Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" Alma felt it when he encountered an angel and knew that what his father had been saying all those years was absolutely true. It cost him a lot to change his life and become a new person, but he did it. Sometimes we feel like we need an angel as well in order to change, but remember that Laman and Lemuel saw an angel several times, and they chose not to change. It isn't the angel that makes the difference. It is our willingness to be humble and accept God and his truth... to be open to the difficult changes in our lives that the truth demands.
Once our hearts are changed, then the rest will come. God has something to work with, and with some humility and effort on our parts, everything else can be sorted. It's the beginning... the spiritually being born of God part that we desperately need in order to get past our own resistance and rebellion, and into believing in and trusting God to do as he promises. As Alma 32 tells us, even if we can only start with the desire to believe, if we let that desire grow in us, then God will help us, and will help us change.
And if we have gotten to that point and then have drifted, Alma has another question for us in verse 26: "... if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"
Today, if we haven't felt it, let's open our hearts and humble ourselves before God and invite him into our lives. Let's work on having that mighty change happen in our lives. He can change our hearts if we invite him in... even when we can't imagine changing our minds. … And if we have felt it before but can't now, then let's go back to square one and rededicate ourselves, and get that feeling back. We don't have to live without God, ever. We can repent and have that comfort again. Let's work with God and make the change.
And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.
And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.
And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"
Alma 5:11-14
I think it is interesting that Alma was asking this to members of Christ's church. Clearly, whether we come from a religious tradition or not, or any outward appearance, we have internal differences in testimony and dedication. Alma knew this about his people, and he resigned as Chief Judge and went out to preach, because he was worried about the souls of the people that he was responsible for. And this is Alma the younger, the one that initially rebelled against his father and sought to destroy the church. He knows the temptation and the heartbreak of sin, and he honestly wants to save people from suffering. And fortunately, despite the tendency that we all have to tune out people who are trying to "save" us from our mistakes, he was able to get through to many people.
The core of these verses is the question "Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" Alma felt it when he encountered an angel and knew that what his father had been saying all those years was absolutely true. It cost him a lot to change his life and become a new person, but he did it. Sometimes we feel like we need an angel as well in order to change, but remember that Laman and Lemuel saw an angel several times, and they chose not to change. It isn't the angel that makes the difference. It is our willingness to be humble and accept God and his truth... to be open to the difficult changes in our lives that the truth demands.
Once our hearts are changed, then the rest will come. God has something to work with, and with some humility and effort on our parts, everything else can be sorted. It's the beginning... the spiritually being born of God part that we desperately need in order to get past our own resistance and rebellion, and into believing in and trusting God to do as he promises. As Alma 32 tells us, even if we can only start with the desire to believe, if we let that desire grow in us, then God will help us, and will help us change.
And if we have gotten to that point and then have drifted, Alma has another question for us in verse 26: "... if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?"
Today, if we haven't felt it, let's open our hearts and humble ourselves before God and invite him into our lives. Let's work on having that mighty change happen in our lives. He can change our hearts if we invite him in... even when we can't imagine changing our minds. … And if we have felt it before but can't now, then let's go back to square one and rededicate ourselves, and get that feeling back. We don't have to live without God, ever. We can repent and have that comfort again. Let's work with God and make the change.
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