The beginning chapters of Heleman finds the people in the depths of wickedness and seeing no way out. The few who were righteous are intimidated by the fact that there is no support or protection for them. Not only are the people more interested in the lusts of worldly pleasures, but the government is corrupt, as well. With a corrupt government there can be no justice because those in favor or those who are wealthy enough to provide bribes are free to place all others under subjection.
In the midst of all this, a righteous prophet named after the first prophet following the division of the people, Nephi, boldly calls the people to repentance and prophesies of the coming of Christ. He condemns the corruption of the day, so many are drawn to him. Some are just curious to see a man with such courage; others are anxious to follow his teachings; still others are anxious to see him stopped even if it means that he is destroyed. In the attempt to silence him and cause him to be "tried" for treason, he first preaches unto them about the fact that Christ is prophesied of by all prophets and he condemns them for their iniquities. As they attempt to take him, he tells them that the chief judge is murdered and he tells them who committed the crime.
There are other details to the story that are very interesting, but the point I wish to make here is that the complete righteous nature of Nephi led him to accept the will of God, no matter what the circumstances might be for him. The result of that could have been the same as that of Jeremiah where no relief ever came and he died an ignominious death. To him it did not matter so long as he was doing the will of God. What happened to Nephi is not entirely unique as we see something similar with Elijah, but something for which we could all strive. In the midst of his pondering on the wickedness of the people and wondering if what he was doing made any difference, a voice came to him telling him that because of his faithfulness, the Lord would make him mighty in faith, word, deed and works. In fact, he was told, anything he asked would be done. A lesser man would have asked for a safe place away from all the trials, abundance to avoid the negative consequences of the wicked society and peace for the rest of his life. The Lord knew, however, that Nephi would ask only for those things that would further his ministry to the people.
Rather than ask for ease, he asked the Lord to bring famine to replace war. The famine brought the desired result, at least until it was relieved, in that the people began to listen to this prophet who predicted the destruction of the people if they did not repent. They laid down their weapons of war and paid heed to his teachings, but as soon as they were relieved of the famine, they turned back to their former ways.
There is a lesson for each of us here, I believe. The will of God is always superior to the will of man. There is no security in our own attempts at self-security, especially if they are made without the promptings of the Spirit. Even worse, there is never security in evil. When we come to a place in our lives where it seems we could acquire wealth or prestige through deceit, theft, or by corrupt means, we will find that it is temporary at best. If it is not lost during our lifetimes, it will destroy our children and leave them destitute of material, spiritual, emotional or social well being. Sin in all its manifestations is selfishness at its core.
The only security is in following the words of God. As it says in D&C 84:43-44, we must give diligent heed to the words of eternal life and live by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. If we do so today, we find that there is a reason to procure a good education, establish ourselves in a business or profession and set aside money, food, water and fuel against a day of disaster, but we never rely solely on those things. Rather, we rely on God by putting His will above ours to a point that we completely substitute His will for our own. When we do that, we find, at least in a small degree, that we, like Nephi, can call upon him to receive the blessings we desire for ourselves, our loved ones and those for whom we have responsibility in our callings.
No comments:
Post a Comment