Alma 24 – Weapons of War

The last few chapters I have read have been observing the people of God and their conversion to the Lord’s gospel.  Alma, Ammon and his brethren felt strongly they could turn the hearts of the Lamanites to the truth and pleaded with Mosiah, their father, to let them go serve them.  What a test of faith!  It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for them.  Aaron and his brethren had been put in prison in some very adverse conditions for a very long time. 

Eventually, the Lamanites saw the truth and changed their names to Anti-Nephi-Lehites.  I wrote in the margin that the dictionary says Anti=mirror, or like.  So their new name says they were like the Nephites and Lehites – strong in gospel truths and commitment.  They proved their love of truth by laying down their weapons of war.  These were the tools used to take the life of another as well as to defend themselves from their enemies.  They were ready to give all, and for many, that is exactly what was required.  They prostrated themselves on the ground and prayed in the very act of the Lamanites murdering them. 

Somehow, this show of conversion affected the Lamanites to the point many of them put down their weapons of war and joined with the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.  After the dust settled, and counts were made, it was discovered the only ones who actually converted over were the Lamanites.  The Ammulonites and the Amalekites were those who remained hardened and enemies to the people of God.  Why is this?  What was different?  This is the very sad answer:  They were apostates to the truth.  Verse 30 of Alma 24 nearly breaks my heart.  “And thus we can plainly discern (a teaching verse), that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God and have had great knowledge or things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things.” 

As a mother of some wayward children, this is such a concern.  I must remind myself daily that I know the Lord has a plan. He loves his children and I’ve received promises that somehow binds them to me.  They will someday be required to lay down their weapons of war and confess that Jesus is the Christ and that they have been wrong.  It could happen in this life and I pray daily that it will, as we have been told repentance without our bodies is much more difficult.  Again, I remind myself . . . .

So what are the weapons of war our children deal with?  The weapons of war of today are mostly those that have to do with the family and our bodies.  Satan has pulled out his big guns to destroy these two things.  Our beautiful young people are destroying their bodies with drugs, tattoos, piercings, eating disorders and various other forms of deformity that are definitely “marking” them as Satan’s territory.  Some of our youth manage to come back after some of this “marking”.  They ache to have these markings still a part of their body.  I consider this the battle scars. 

The second line of attack is the destruction of our families.  Our young people are divorcing at an alarming rate.  This is just one more reason, if not the biggest reason, for our young couples to make time to renew their covenants in the temple frequently.  The Lord has blessed us with temples conveniently placed around the globe for this very purpose.  It is critical to return often.  As I watch the disintegration of my daughter’s family, it is evident to me that her husband was totally off base when he said the Lord didn’t require them to sacrifice so much to attend the temple.  Wrong!  He not only expects it, it is the one piece of doctrine that will save us from Satan’s buffetings.  I know this to be true as much as I know air and water are critical for our every moment.

So what does this mean to me?  I have only one course of action I can take.  Set a righteous example and to speak of Christ at every opportunity.  He is my King, my Salvation.  He is my Redeemer and the Redeemer of all those who sincerely seek for a better life.  It is he who knows our heartaches and our hearts – the desires of our hearts.  He is the judge.  For this I am most grateful.