Expediency Versus Covenants

Come Follow Me (Alma 23-29)

Alma chapter 24 makes me cry every time I read it. I'm in complete awe of the miraculous missionary efforts of Ammon and his brothers with the Lamanites.

These boys became men on their missions, and the power of their conversion was so great, they spent fourteen years teaching in an enemy nation. Long enough to give them pause when the new converts refused to defend themselves from war.

The king's speech in chapter 24 is so insightful as to why it's so difficult - if not impossible - to be forgiven of murder:

"And now behold, my brethren, since it was all we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain - " (Alma 24:11)

If God governs with natural laws, that would mean that He hasn't arbitrarily determined murder - or for that matter, adultery - will not be forgiven. Perhaps He has warned about these two because the spiritually lethal, infectious germs of murderous rage or lust are so perniciously difficult to remove from a human heart once they've taken root there.

My heart swells with wonder at the beauty and power of repentance when I realize this murderous people figured that out. I read this account and see the unparalleled fruit of repentance in their choices. When did this great epiphany come to them? Practically on the eve of war.

Wouldn't that be a great time to lay aside those thoughts for just a minute in order to defend yourselves?

But no - that's when this incredible collective of newly converted saints make a covenant to never take another life - even in a war of self-defense. And to have tangible evidence that they've made this covenant - they bury any and all weapons of destruction.

All the people. All the weapons. A collective act of devotion to their God - in humble recognition of what He has already done to make their hearts clean.

The fact this covenant was made when the lives of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis were in peril underscores not just the importance of covenants but their very purpose. It's one of the most powerful illustrations in scripture of what it means to live by correct principles once they've been taught, received, and embraced. They don't mean anything if you cast them aside for expediency. It's in those very perilous circumstances that our covenants mean the very most to us - when it costs us to keep them.

Let me say that again: covenants are meaningless if they're set aside for any reason. Even for expediency - real or perceived. If that's the ground you stand on, it's amazing how many perceived expediencies Satan will be able to present. Good luck with that slippery slope.

On the eve of this great emergency, as weapons of self-defense are buried deep in the earth, even higher and holier realizations come. We shouldn't expect to exist on the labor of others! We're not going to take what we haven't worked for anymore. We're going to be more generous and give freely when we have more than we need. That means we're going to have to stop living an indolent and idle lifestyle and work for our own support.

The fact that an entire community of saints could go from murder, plunder, and indolence to charity and industry is one of the greatest miracles recounted in scripture. And how did this people punctuate this choice?

With a covenant which cost their very lives.

These are the men who went out so they would be killed before their wives and children - whose widows raised a generation of valiant soldiers. These men gave their lives in the ultimate atypical response - stinging the consciences of other murderous hearts. How incredible - that the atypical response could allow the Spirit of God to move those murderous hearts to repentance!

I continue to praise God that He can do such things with unruly human hearts. Even without being at literal war, it's only the gospel of Jesus Christ that can teach and train us to practice the atypical response against the swords of unkindness and even cruelty or brutality. If we can do this in our personal relationships, we can aid the Spirit to work upon not just an enemy's heart, but our own.