I could not help but see something significant as
I started to read about the people of Limhi this morning. Limhi was the son of
Noah who was the son of Zeniff who foolishly decided to abandon the land of
Zarahemla and return to the land of Lehi-Nephi, the land of ‘their fathers’
(Mosiah 9:3). This was the land from which Nephi fled and separated himself and
his followers from his murderous brothers (2 Nephi 5:57). At the time of
Zeniff, the land was populated by the Lamanites.
When Zeniff was first sent as a spy to the land
of Lehi-Nephi, it was to check out the Lamanites’ forces so that the Nephite
army could come and destroy them (Mosiah 9:1). Something interesting happened
to Zeniff on this expedition. He saw the good that was among the Lamanites and
he was seduced (v 1). Perhaps Lamanites were not so bad after all….Herein lies
the lesson. You should never go backwards. The Lamanites were welcoming at
first and vacated lands for Zeniff and his people to occupy. The king even
covenanted with Zeniff granting him the land but Zeniff did not foresee ‘the cunning and the craftiness of king Laman’
who yielded up the land to bring his people into bondage (v 9). Zeniff saw the
good of the Lamanites on the surface but in reality they were ‘a lazy and
idolatrous people’ who put others in bondage to provide for them (v 12). After
twelve years of being settled in the land, the glitter wore off and the bondage
set in (v 11).
I could not help but see how this story relates
to us who have abandoned a company they should not keep seeing the dangers of
sin they were falling into, or have even fallen into such a life. Once removed,
don’t look back because Satan works overtime to make appealing that sinful life
or that company you have abandoned. Once the re-acquaintances have been made or
sin revisited even once, the bondage begins.
When we are baptized we are baptized for ‘remission’
of our sins. This means our sins are simply put in remission until the day of
forgiveness. If we commit that sin that is lying in remission, it will return.
It is like a cancer, which is put into remission through treatment, but it can
always come back. Our sins are the same, they lie in wait to return should we
fail to be diligent in cultivating our spiritual strength. If we fail to do so
and the mistake is repeated, always remember there is a way out. King Limhi
understood the lesson and himself recognized the way to deliverance out of
bondage is by ‘turning to the Lord with full purpose of heart, putting your
trust in Him, and serving Him with all diligence of mind’. Then he says
something interesting. If you do all this, the Lord will ‘according to his own will and pleasure
deliver you out of bondage’ (Mosiah 7:33). Be warned, the deliverance might
mean a rough road of repentance and forgiveness….as in many cases, groups of people in the Book of Mormon proved
this to be true.
The real danger of going backwards is this…..you
might never return. And what a loss that would be to your soul, your family,
your loved ones, to the Saviour who suffered for you and to the Father who
eagerly awaits you.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Though Your Sins Be As Scarlet by Greg Olsen)
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