Monday, October 26, 2015

Land of Liberty

 11 And this land shall be land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who 
shall raise up unto the Gentiles.
 12 And will fortify this land against all other nations.
With everything currently going on in our country right now, this is a comfort. That we won't be subjected to unrighteous dominion in the form of a ruler who dictates what our actions and responses are. This however does not promise that we have no responsibility in our own self government to ensure that we remain free and able to govern ourselves. With this knowledge comes great responsibility. in verse 20 we read:
 20 And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down 
our heads, for we are not cast off...
Here we are asked to remember the Lord, our covenants and to obey the commandments. To repent of our sins and that we are not "cast off" , but children of God, with great potential. The adversary would have us feel that we are not worthy, that events are in play that are unchangeable, and that we have no control over what occurs. What a blessing it is to be reminded that we have hope, control and even the ability to act for good regarding all events in our lives. 
President Faust reminds us that we have choices to make, large or small, every day of our lives. To choose good or evil, to be happy or unhappy, and all of those choices have consequences. The word consequences sometimes has a negative connotation. It really just means that actions have results and they can be good (we get stronger when we exercise) or bad (we lose muscle tone and get weak when we are sedentary). 
Sometimes we just have to look at the result we want, and the choices we need to make are pretty clear. Sometimes it is not so clear. Elder Oaks reminded us in a conference talk that sometimes our choices are between a good, better, best option. 
What are the consequences of of poor choices as citizens of this incredible country? In the Book of Mormon Institute Manual we are taught the consequences of forsaking God. 
"Our Israelite forebears were scattered because they rejected the gospel, defiled the priesthood, forsook the church, and departed from the kingdom. They were scattered because they turned from the Lord, worshipped false gods, and walked in all the ways of the heathen nations. They were scattered because they forsook the Abrahamic covenant, trampled under their feet the holy ordinances, and rejected the Lord Jehovah, who is the Lord Jesus, of whom all their prophets testified. Israel was scattered for apostasy."
We have a promise. We also have a responsibility. we must be faithful members, keeping our covenants, doing all we can to serve and honor our brothers and sisters. As citizens, we must be informed and involved. We must keep our eye on the result we want in a righteous and worthy nation of a populace who serve God and His children. Let us all resolve to exercise the "muscles" of good choices and resolve to keep our nation free, worthy and exemplary.