WITH THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL 2

If you didn’t read last week’s Thought for a Sabbath Day or if you have forgotten why I am spending another week using chapter 29 of Alma, in The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ as my source of inspiration for my Thoughts, I would encourage you to review or read for the first time last week’s edition of my Thoughts.

Kathleen so kindly remarked when she was doing the editing of last week’s Thought, that there was no way I was going to get through this chapter in two weeks. Therefore, as I continue I will just say that we will be using this chapter as the inspiration for Thoughts for Sabbath Days until we are no longer using it.

3 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.

I suspect few if any of us has added this to the list of ways in which we can sin. In fact, I believe most of us would have placed Alma’s, ‘desire to speak with the voice of an angel’ on the list of righteous desires.

As I age, my view of the marvelous miracle of our brain and its abilities continues to add to its mysteriousness. For instance, as I was writing the previous sentence a statement by Ezra Taft Benson pushed forward from a buried cell and was carried by my neurons into my consciousness. ‘The most important thing we can learn during mortality is what we were sent to do.’

I don’t know if there was an actual laying on of hands formalizing what we were commissioned by our Heavenly Father to accomplish during our earthly mission, but I suspect inspired Patriarchal Blessings by the Lord’s earthly ordained Patriarchs may at least give us a glimpse into what was contained in that Father of Father’s blessing.

As I remember the context of President’s Benson’s talk, he didn’t put the responsibility of discovering the content of that pre mortal existence blessing in the hands of the ordained Patriarchs, but indicated it was a very individual responsibility.

Therefore, if callings in the Lord’s Kingdom are preordained and meant to be our personal contribution to the furthering of His work on the earth I believe Alma also knew that we were being righteous when we were operating within the bounds of our own callings and going outside of those parameters could cause us to sin.

We have been cautioned about finding fault with our leaders. I suspect that caution would include and, if we are not careful, move us into the area of sin if we think we could do a better job in certain callings.

Hence, in order to avoid having our wishes to have a more ‘powerful’ or ‘important’ voice in the kingdom, we would do well to be content with the things the Lord has allotted unto us. I would add that we would also do well to follow Alma’s example and go forth with all our might, mind and strength to amplify the stewardships which have been place upon us. For when all is said and done, slothfulness causes us to move toward sinning.

4 I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction.

One of the great joys of my career of being a full time teacher in the Seminaries and Institutes programs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is that I had the privilege of using the words from various books by Elder Neal A. Maxwell as the teaching source for my classes during many semesters.

One of the many wonderful things I remember from those classes was a principle Elder Maxwell taught about prayer. His counsel was that it would be wise to ponder what we were going to pray about before we pray, wait for inspiration from the Holy Spirit as confirmation whether to pray about what we had been thinking about and then proceed to pray about what had been confirmed to us by the Holy Spirt.

As we read this previous verse we should begin to understand the wisdom of Elder Maxwell’s teaching. Alma indicated the Lord will grant unto men the desires of their hearts along with the consequences of those desires.

If Alma is correct the Lord may grant us the desires of our hearts as a means of teaching us a consequential lesson just as well as giving us a blessed emphasis for our progression.

This statement of Alma about the Lord granting us the wishes of our hearts, regardless of whether the granting of those wishes will lead a person towards death and destruction or towards life and salvation may be the ultimate statement on the importance of how we use the law of Agency.

As I ponder the ramifications which Alma teaches about the granting of our wishes either leading us toward good or evil consequences, it becomes even of greater importance to entertain Elder Maxwell’s counsel on seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit as a prelude to our petitioning the Lord about fulfilling the desires of our hearts.

5 Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.

I feel a need to examine this verse phrase by phrase.

I know that good and evil have come before all men

In my opinion it cannot be more clearly stated. All who reach the age of accountability will be faced with the trial of choosing between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

We will come across the principle later and discuss it in greater detail, but for now it is important to note why I have pointed to our age and accountability. The Lord had revealed that little children, (for most of us that begins about the age of eight) are in a state of innocence and will not be held accountable for their choices and any evil they may do is covered by the Atonement of the Savior.

he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless

With this phrase Alma adds another group besides the innocent. Those who are ignorant, whose choices are covered by the Atonement of the Savior and for which the children of God will not be held accountable.

he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience

For those of us who fall under the full weight of the consequences of our decisions, we would be wise to petition the aid of the Holy Spirit to guide us toward good and away from evil so that we might have life rather than death and joy rather than remorse. Alma gives added emphasis to this principle as he includes the prayers we use to express the desires of our hearts.


THOUGHTS FOR A SABBATH DAY – WILLIAM L. RILEY

EDITED BY – KATHLEEN W. RILEY

❣️THINK + PLAN + PREPARE + DO + HUGS + PEACE + JOY + LOVE + INTEGRITY + FAITH + HOPE + CHARITY = THE GOOD LIFE❣️