1 Nephi 7:10 -- On Remembering

"How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?"
1 Nephi 7:10


I was thinking about this, and it reminded me of Alma 12:10-11 where it says

"And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell."

I think that is probably what is going on with Laman and Lamuel... they had this magnificent experience seeing an angel, and yes they were chastised, but I mean... an angel, right? We know the impact that angel had on Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah, after all. The difference here is that they opened their hearts to the truth, and didn't harden themselves against it... so they were able to learn and grow and change... with God's help making a difference in the world and healing where they had previously harmed.

Laman and Lemuel on the other hand hardened their hearts, and in so doing, lost a lot of what they had previously known or had access to.

What this really says to me is that we can't sit on the fence with God, trying to have it both ways. We're going to be gaining knowledge and spirituality, or we're going be losing it... if we harden our hearts, we can lose parts of ourselves rather than tapping into the spirit and building on that foundation with God to become better than we ever dreamed we could be. And it's sad, because we're tearing ourselves down and apart... no one else is doing it to us.

Today, let's take some time to remember. Moroni asks us to do just that in Moroni 10:3. Let's remember and ponder all that God has shown us and done for us, and tap into the Spirit of the Lord through prayer and study. As we do, we'll be feeding our spirits, and building ourselves up. Let's do everything in our power to retain our experiences, memories, and knowledge of God, and not to lose parts of ourselves as Laman and Lemuel did.