31 Yea, I would that
ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is
the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and
harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be
brought about unto you.
32 For behold, this
life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this
life is the day for men to perform their labors. (Alma 34:31-32)
Amulek continues.
He told them to come forth and not harden their hearts any
more. “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do
evil” (Psalm 37:8).
“He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city
that is broken down, and without walls” (Proverbs 25:28).
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Now is the time of their salvation.
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to
awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us
therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light”
(Romans 13:11-12).
therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts,
immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.
They are to repent an not harden their hearts. “A wicked man
hardeneth his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way”(Proverbs
21:29).
“Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth
his heart shall fall into mischief” (Proverbs 28:14).
If they do this, the plan of salvation will be brought to
them.
“Amulek admonished the people to ‘come forth and harden not
your hearts any longer’ (Alma 34:31). This reiterates the major theme of the
missionary message—that despite offenses, persecution, and adversity, what
matters most in life is not a person's station or situation but how a person
reacts to it. The vital thing is to repent because ‘this life is the time for
men to prepare to meet God’ (Alma 34:32). According to Amulek, the Zoramite
poor could not afford to wait until they were free or wealthy or part of the
elite to do what is good; rather, they needed to soften their hearts, obey the
commandments regardless of their circumstance in life, and concentrate on the
things of God now.”[1]
“Isn’t it wonderful to know that we don’t have to be perfect
to experience the blessings and gifts of our Heavenly Father? We don’t have to
wait to cross the finish line to receive God’s blessings. In fact, the heavens
begin to part and the blessings of heaven begin to distill upon us with the
very first steps we take toward the light. The perfect place to begin is
exactly where you are right now. It doesn’t matter how unqualified you may
think you are or how far behind others you may feel. The very moment you begin
to seek your Heavenly Father, in that moment, the hope of His light will begin
to awaken, enliven, and ennoble your soul. The darkness may not dissipate all
at once, but as surely as night always gives way to dawn, the light will come.”[2]
Now is the time for us to prepare to meet God. “And the days
of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they
might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of
probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which
the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all
men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the
transgression of their parents” (2 Nephi 2:21).
“And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to
repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God” (Alma 42:4).
This is the day for us to perform our labors.
“Every person experiences many challenges in this mortal
life. Each has personal agency to make choices that affect his or her progress.
Good choices bring promised blessings, and bad choices always bring undesired
consequences. Life is uncertain. Our time is short. Our time is precious. This
is the time ‘to prepare to meet God’
Alma 34:32 There is not time to waste in personal experimentation or
involvement with those things that have been proven harmful to our bodies and
our souls. None of us are perfect, and we all need help. But we are not left
alone if we are teachable, with hearts to feel and ears to hear.”[3]
[1] The
Zoramite Separation: A Sociological Perspective, Sherrie Mills Johnson,
Maxwell Institute.
[3] Follow
the Instructions, Elder D. Rex Gerratt, April 2003 General Conference.
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