-this
could be the saddest, most heartrending verse in all of scripture.
-what was
in the character of Laman and Lemuel specifically (and in the others, who would
not come, generally) that kept them from going and partaking? Lack of humility? Pride? Seeking for momentary pleasure? Too difficult? A desire to be “free”? Obstinance?
Why would they not come? What
motivates such fundamental definance?
Why not just go and try it and then make a decision to leave or linger? They would not even acquiesce in the least
degree.
-This
experience, if it did nothing else, should have served as a graphic warning for
Laman and Lemuel… Did they realize the wake up call? I am convinced that we are given numerous
chances to turn to the Lord. I know the
Lord’s hand was very active in my life but until I was in a position of needing
to look for Him I never saw him even though He had so frequently prospered the
path I walked. How proud and ungrateful
I must have been to suppose that I was directing my life in some wonderful
manner, that I was solely in control.
With this attitude I could easily have thought that my was and my
desires were the things to be sought after.
Thank God that I “learned” to
love God’s ways more than my ways.
“I saw them, but
they would not come”
-can
there be any more agonizing and crushing sadness for a parent than seeing one
of your children but not being able to do anything to help them or save them
from clear and inevitable pain. This is
the ultimate in helplessness and impotence.
To stand by and watch as pain is inflicted (by another or in consequence
of ones own deliberate obstinance) upon one who you deeply love requires
superhuman strength. This is the burden
of a God. Do I have such capacity? We are being fit for unbridled power yes, but
more importantly for a level of discipline to be able to restrain ourself from using it
inappropriately.
“they would
not come…”
-it is a
fundamental principle of the gospel to do what Lehi did next and it is more
easily seen when we manipulate what he might have done and illustrate the wrong
action: He did not then make them
come and partake of the fruit! The
agency of man is supreme. The war in
heaven proved that early on. In fact, we
can see just how fundamental that agency
is by 1) how it was so strongly defended as well as the severity of the penalty
that was passed on to those who would have encroached upon it, and 2) that
Satan used it as his first/fundamental argument for following him. He strikes at the elements of God’s plan that
are fundamental and vital (i.e. agency, the family, procreation, etc.)
Evidently
Lehi (and God) would rather have their children face the possibility of being
lost rather than deny them their privilege to choose for themselves. As terrible as it may be to lose a child to
Lucifer, it must be a worse thing to deny them their agency!
-What
would happen to a soul if it were denied his/her agency? We know what happens (its eternal state) to a
soul when he/she becomes subject to the devil, what happens if agency is denied
must be a worse situation! And
conversely, they who properly use agency must have the most glorious
reward. What is it about making our own
choices that is so fundamental/central to our final reward?
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