Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 13:12, 24
"Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered in the rest of the Lord their God.
For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory."
This is another really good chapter. I noticed a pattern, Alma speaks of entering into the rest of the Lord five times. I recalled him using the phrase in the previous chapter so I had to go back and check and it was mentioned four times. This theme was really strong on his mind, so I sat and pondered on that. Then I recalled in chapter 8 the incident where Alma being weighted down with much grief over the people of Ammonihah, had an angel of the Lord appeared to him. I think that is the moment Alma entered into the rest of the Lord. From his own experience he is able to tell us how to do the same and has been doing so in these two chapters.
He also tells us that angels are appearing unto many to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Lord. I know Alma, the sons of Mosiah, and Amulek have all been visited by an angel at this time. These verses make me wonder who else? The angels are preparing his servants to preach repentance to the people. What an amazing time they lived in. So many years before Christ's coming yet they were blessed. This is taking place in 82 B.C. Alma said about the Lord's coming "Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice." Alma might not have lived to see the signs of the Savior's birth. Some children at his time might have. But none of them would have been still alive after the Saviors resurrection and appearance to them in the Americas. The Lord can take a long time to prepare hearts to receive him. He will take the heart of a father and turn it to his children, and the children in turn will have the hearts of the fathers. There is a pattern here.
The other thing I pondered on was the phrase "could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence". I had a discussion in family scripture study with my son on this very thing. We were both remarking how our taste in videos had changed since reading the scriptures. Movies we once thought were ok and with good ratings we now found we could not watch them. The acceptance of immorality could no longer be overlooked. It ruined the whole movie for us. We needed to go through our collections and get rid of things we once loved. I know I have a long way to go to look at every sin as abhorrence, but I do have a sign that my heart is changing.
Day 287 Tami Fitzgerald Harris
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