God-fearing nation

Ether 2 – The brother of Jared has conversation with the Lord. He is chastened for three hours. He is told of the requirements for living in the promised land that they are preparing to go to.

My focus cannot help but be on the requirements for living in this promised land. We are currently in a state of serious concern as the leaders of this nation are haggling over how to reduce the debt of this nation and turn the financial situation around. We have elected men and women to do this for us and it is out of the hands of the public, but we can see greed, pride, and inability to apply Christ-like principles in this effort. The Lord made it clear that the people who possess this nation must be a God-fearing nation; that we must serve God or be swept off. When will this happen? V9 makes it clear that it will be when the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.

We are seeing states pass legislation that allows for same-sex marriage. Is it not enough that they mock God in their very relationship? Must they mock him legally by marriage - one of God's most sacred ordinances? This has got to be an abomination to the Lord that I'm sure makes him angry with us as a people.

When you have something that is choice above all others, don't you want to protect it from pollution? Are we as a people doing that? I think not. We are corrupting the laws, the constitution, and just about everything else. We are making the majority of this nation weak and dependent on the few who are willing to work but giving them handouts that they should be earning on their own. This is weakening our nation.

Mormon (he is transcribing this record) warns us as Gentiles that we should serve God to avoid this same fate. “. . . if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.” How do we serve God? I would suggest that one clue is given when the Lord chastises the brother of Jared for three hours because he “. . . remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.” A prophet of God was not praying?!!! This seems amazing to me. For four years they as a people were content to camp on the beach and enjoy the blessings of a very nice place. Can you imagine being chastened for three hours by God? Yikes!

So calling upon God. How can that change things? In doing so, we are given guidance by the Holy Ghost – however subtle – that we must follow. If the entire nation would follow this pattern, there is little doubt in my mind that things could change for the better. But where we have leaders who are not even Christian, this brings serious concern.

So how does this apply to me? What can I do? I can pray for my leaders that they will seek guidance from God; that they will listen to the promptings and have the courage to move in the direction they are prompted. Of course, I do my best to vote responsibly and to aid in this process as I serve in the election process. This is the very least. But we as an LDS population have been told to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Are we prepared? Are we preparing? I'm sure we could always improve, but I believe we are doing as we have been told.