Please note: I'm not trying to get political this time. I'm just setting the stage for an analogy.
Let me backtrack a few verses. In Alma 59, verses 11 and 12, Moroni and the other chief captains of the Nephite army are reflecting on the recent losses they've suffered at the hands of the Lamanites, and they're worried that they might not ultimately win this war. Their concern stems from a physical problem - a lack of resources being sent to them from the government - and it hints at a spiritual problem - maybe God isn't blessing them as much as they need Him to because they're not being righteous enough.
These are the chief captains of the Nephites. They had dedicated their lives to the defense of their country. Nobody cares more than they do about the welfare of the Nephites. Yet, right now, it's not working out. This is discouraging to the chief captains, and it led to feelings of anger in the case of Captain Moroni. He may well have thought to himself, "Why don't they care about their freedom as much as I do? And if they do care, why aren't they fighting for it by sending us men and provisions?" In Alma 60, Captain Moroni writes a letter to the leader of the Nephites, expressing those questions and his anger at their inaction.
As I was reading these verse and thinking about the feelings he and the chief captains must have had, I wonder if the Spirit ever feels that way about us. In a sense, we're all fighting for our freedom from sin. Some of us are fighting harder than others. Some of us aren't fighting it at all. Yet, the Spirit is fighting for everyone's freedom, always striving to lead us down the right paths, encouraging us to make the right choices, pushing and pulling us as hard as he can, but in the end, it's ultimately up to us. No matter how hard the Holy Ghost fights for our freedom, we have the freedom to simply throw it away. This must be very frustrating to Him when we do that, when we fall into transgression despite everything He does to lead us away from it. I wonder if He ever has feelings of righteous anger, wondering why we don't care about our freedom as much as He does, or why we're not fighting for our freedom as hard as we should even though He always is. I wonder if He ever feels like saying "Look, pal, I've been working my butt off to keep you out of trouble, but you're going to go to hell away if you don't get off your butt and work with me. Don't you dare throw away all the work I've done for you!"
Nah, He's probably more diplomatic than that, but I can sort of feel for Him. There have been plenty of times when I just didn't care enough, when I was too tired to read my scriptures or when I forgot to say my prayers or didn't feel like praying. It's astonishing that my eternal life is on the line, yet I'm not always really concerned about that. How can I not care where and how I spend the rest of eternity? How can being tired justify jeopardizing the destiny of my soul? How is it that I can find momentary desires more compelling than my eternal welfare?
In short, Jesus died for me, the Holy Ghost is always pulling for me, and I probably have a Guardian Angel or two working on me, as well. Not to mention my Mom and my Bishop and everyone else who cares where my soul ends up. When all those people are trying to help me succeed, what right do I have to give up? How dare I insult all those people by not fighting for my soul at least as hard as they are? How can I throw away my divine potential when so many people are fighting so hard to help me keep it? Part of Captain Moroni's letter may well have been written to me:
Behold, could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this ye have supposed in vain. (Alma 60: 11)
Salvation is hard. It's certainly a lot harder than saying a prayer and "accepting Jesus into your life." You've got to fight for it. No matter how many people are fighting for you, you, each individual, has to fight for their own souls or they'll lose them. No matter how much God or the Spirit or anyone else fight for us, in the end it'll all go to waste unless we get up and fight for ourselves. Captain Moroni couldn't protect the Nephites without help, and the Holy Ghost can't protect us without our help. We need to act.
1 comment:
I love your posts. A thoughtful, well-placed, encouraging kick in the get-off-it. Also, if so many, some of them incredibly awesome, people care that much about us and our salvation, maybe, just maybe, we are worth the fight even though we may not always think so.
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