His first recorded act as their commander had been to given them armor, which had never been used by the Lehites up to that point. Then he built fortresses, which had also not been done before on that continent. And even after he had driven off all of his enemies, he continued to fortify the cities of his people, knowing that the Lamanites would return.
We live in a world full of spiritual Lamanites. Sometimes they're temptations, sometimes distractions, sometimes discouragement. Whatever form they take, Spiritual Lamanites are always aggressive and relentless. They will not leave you alone. And if you somehow manage to drive them off temporarily, they'll be back before you know it. We need to defend ourselves, but it's not enough to drive them off. We need to prepare ourselves for when they come back.
In Alma chapter 46, Amalickiah tried to overthrow the Nephite government. Moroni defeated Amalickiah's coup by raising the Title of Liberty and inspiring his people to defend their freedom. Amalickiah fled, but he wasn't finished yet. He spent the whole next chapter plotting, scheming and murdering to gain power over the Lamanites until he became their king. Then he rallied his new army to war against the Nephites. But Moroni had not been idle in Amalickiah's absence.
How can we follow the example of Moroni and defend ourselves against Spiritual Lamanites? By building up our defenses, whether we're being attacked or not. If we increase our spiritual defenses every opportunity we get, the Spiritual Lamanites will be as powerless against us as Amalickiah's army was against the forces of Moroni. They will come at us again and again, and it won't always be easy to fight them off. In fact, it usually won't be. But if we continue to shore up our defenses, even when we already feel safe, we can give ourselves the advantage in the battles ahead. And as the battles get tougher, we may need every advantage we can get.
We live in a world full of spiritual Lamanites. Sometimes they're temptations, sometimes distractions, sometimes discouragement. Whatever form they take, Spiritual Lamanites are always aggressive and relentless. They will not leave you alone. And if you somehow manage to drive them off temporarily, they'll be back before you know it. We need to defend ourselves, but it's not enough to drive them off. We need to prepare ourselves for when they come back.
In Alma chapter 46, Amalickiah tried to overthrow the Nephite government. Moroni defeated Amalickiah's coup by raising the Title of Liberty and inspiring his people to defend their freedom. Amalickiah fled, but he wasn't finished yet. He spent the whole next chapter plotting, scheming and murdering to gain power over the Lamanites until he became their king. Then he rallied his new army to war against the Nephites. But Moroni had not been idle in Amalickiah's absence.
Now it came to pass that while Amalickiah had thus been obtaining power by fraud and deceit, Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God.
Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land. Alma 48: 7-8Because of Moroni's diligence, Amalickiah's conquest was ultimately unsuccessful and he was eventually killed.
How can we follow the example of Moroni and defend ourselves against Spiritual Lamanites? By building up our defenses, whether we're being attacked or not. If we increase our spiritual defenses every opportunity we get, the Spiritual Lamanites will be as powerless against us as Amalickiah's army was against the forces of Moroni. They will come at us again and again, and it won't always be easy to fight them off. In fact, it usually won't be. But if we continue to shore up our defenses, even when we already feel safe, we can give ourselves the advantage in the battles ahead. And as the battles get tougher, we may need every advantage we can get.
No comments:
Post a Comment