Mosiah 2:21-24 -- On Relationships and Power

"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.
And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.
And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?"
Mosiah 2:21-24


King Benjamin is amazing. I'm sure there are much more comforting (and equally true) ways to talk about our relationship to God, where love and hope are emphasized, but King Benjamin lays it on the line, reliving us of any illusions we had that God needs our worship or that we are in some mutually-beneficial business-type relationship with him where we have room to negotiate our position. Instead he is clear that we are children before the Lord... valued, loved, and with great potential, yes, but extremely unprofitable in a business sense... God is sinking all of his effort into our development, and we are returning (and can return) nothing to him that he has not already given us. There is zero point in playing power games when we have no power. :)

Today, let's be cognizant of our relationship to God... we don't have to think of it in such stark terms as profitability, but let's retain the idea of it, that we desperately need God, and that he is sustaining us and preserving us "from day to day." I think that might help us with our humility and remind us that God loves us and is heavily invested in our success. :)