Day 252 Don't Delay Repentance: Immediate Consequences

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me. And know that I'm cheering for your every success.

I wonder what would change, if anything, in our lives if our choices were met with immediate and direct consequences. That's a question that came. Welcome to Day 252 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

Today we're going to be reading Alma chapter 62, verses 1 through 21. And inside of it, we see Moroni combine with Pahoran and ultimately defeat those that are rebelling against their government. Did we see what appears to be a pretty harsh reaction until maybe we dive into it and see what it could mean for us in our own choices.

Today, you're going to be reading Alma chapter 62, verse 10 for our verse today. And it says this: "And thus it became expedient that this law should be strictly observed for the safety of their country. Yea, and whosoever was found denying their freedom was speedily executed according to the law." Wow, now that seems like a very strict law indeed.

In fact, in today's world, we would say too extreme. We have a lot of people that see many laws as, what does it say in Pirates of the Caribbean, "as guidelines," right? They're not actually rules to be followed, they're just guidelines.

And in the Articles of Faith, we are reminded that we do fall subject, we see ourselves subject to kings and governments and rulers so that we can live under a rule of law. God's kingdom functions under rule of law. And so it made me pause and kind of think about how important it is that we take on our obedience through the lens, not based on the consequences we may be getting, because repentance is available, but that we repent knowing that those consequences may come at any time in our lives.

I used to use this example at school, and obviously I never implemented this, but I used to ask my students. I asked them if you saw one student come to class late and in front of everybody, that student had their pinky finger removed in front of the class, how many of you would ever be tardy again? And the reaction was quite drastic.

And yet the interesting thing with that is that the consequences of our spiritual choices are often not immediately seen or felt. And as such, people believe those consequences don't exist at all. And thus we end up procrastinating our repentance.

This kind of took me down a hole where I ended up with President Eyring and a talk that he gave in October of 1999 in General Conference called "Do Not Delay." And I'll share this last piece from him as we wrap up today. He said, "We have all been tempted with that delay." We know from our own experience that President Spencer W. Kimball was right when he wrote, "One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination." And then he defined it: "an unwillingness to accept personal responsibility now." Now, and so Satan works on both our desire to think we have no cause to repent and our desire to push anything unpleasant into the future.

He has tempted you and me and those we love with thoughts like this: "'God is so loving, surely he won't hold me personally responsible for mistakes, which are simply the result of being human.'" And then if that fails, there is the thought that will almost surely come: "'Well, I may be responsible to repent, but this is not a good time to start. If I wait, later will be better.'" My friends, I think we can learn something interesting from this little perspective that Moroni gave us on the immediacy at which they took account for breaking the laws of their land. We are a law and rule-keeping people.

We believe the kingdom of God is based on rules and laws and commandments. And I'd encourage you, if you have lived your life in a way that is a little bit more relaxed in that area, that you seek to repent and do so with the idea of immediacy so that you can take accountability and responsibility for those actions and get back in line with the commandments of our Heavenly Father. I know that the second you turn to Him, you will be able to receive forgiveness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.