In the first three verses of Alma 29, Alma says something that confuses me:
O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.
But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.
The first two verses sound fine. It's the third verse that doesn't make sense to me, mostly because it's the one that says there was something wrong with the first two. What's wrong with wishing that you could cry repentance to the whole earth? It sounds like a good wish to me. And it couldn't be that wishing, in itself, is bad, because Alma wishes for something else later in the chapter. Maybe I need to look deeper into this. Maybe I need to reread these verses later, when I'm less tired. But wanting to invite everyone to repent sounds like a good thing to me. There must be something I'm missing. I'll try to figure it out later.
2 comments:
I THINK he is saying that we each have things God wants us to do and that's enough. It was not really a sinful wish certainly, to want to just that Alma should rejoice in his part and do his best. God called Alma on a certain mission. He will/has called others to serve other people.
If we are called to serve as Nursery Leader, we should serve there with our whole heart and not wish to be General Primary President. One person does not need to do / be everything. It is for our benefit and the Lord's glory that we each serve. Every area of service is of value with it is prestigious or unnoticed.
Good points, Mom! Thanks for sharing!
Post a Comment