Helaman 10-11

(November 13, 2014)

                I had two separate thoughts as I read through these chapters.  The first was on Lehi – here was another of God’s servants toiling tirelessly (if he was as righteous as Nephi, he was doing well).  And yet, we know very little about him.  He served, but he will never be properly recognized for that even with the Church.  But in the eternities, he will have his reward.  This is something I need to constantly remind myself of – the good we do cannot be done for temporal purposes.  In the first case, we have no promise that we will receive temporally for our service (except in limited instances).  For the second, when we are focused on the temporal our service isn’t properly given.

                My second thought was on Nephi.  Here he had just had a miraculous event that he had been privileged to be a part of.  And as the crowd separated and went their own way, he received the visitation that granted him the sealing power.  When he had that power, he didn’t rest or contemplate it – he didn’t wonder whether he should go home and pray about what had happened.  No, he immediately went to work.

                I have noticed in my own life a tendency (at times – not uniformly) to follow up spiritual experiences with almost like a spiritual relaxation.  It is as though I have received confidence from the spiritual experience and thus I don’t feel the pressure to give my life over to the Lord as much.  This isn’t always the case (in fact, I don’t even know that it is usually the case), but sometimes it is.  Instead, though, I need to remain focused even when I am experiencing spiritual events and use that increase in power to drive me forward to more acts of service in His name.