Mosiah 13-14

(September 1, 2014)

                As I read this chapter, I was again drawn to wonder why it was that the priests of Noah felt compelled to kill Abinidi.  Surely they, like Alma, understood that Abinidi was a righteous prophet.  After all, he had the power of God sufficient to preclude them from slaying him until the time came that he had delivered his message.  Were I in their shoes, I would have been given pause before I killed the man calling me to repentance and who I could not kill.

                But I think it goes to highlight a common point that is sometimes lost – unfaithfulness is frequently a choice rather than a condition.  That is the only reason a lack of faith could be a moral weakness – if we lack faith because of our choice.  I don’t say this out of a rational theory, but rather because I was in that position – I have chosen to believe, and there was a time that I chose to disbelieve because of my sins.  I recognize that my current faith is a choice.

                That doesn’t mean that I worry about confirmation bias or whether or not I truly believe.  After all, since my choice to believe, I have had that faith confirmed countless times (more than what would be necessary).  But it wasn’t until I chose to believe that I was open to the communication from the Lord.  Apparently the priests of Noah had become so wicked that they would be given that communication whether they were open to it or not.  Whereas we reject His message through ignoring promptings, they explicitly rejected the message of His prophets.  But having been on both sides of that coin, I recognize that they are really the same thing.  When we ignore the whisperings of the Spirit, we are doing little different (certainly not in quality, even if in quantity) than what the priests of Noah did.  And that should worry us.