"And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.
And thus they were a zealous and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord."
The other day an event in the news made me think of people that were over-zealous. I did a little research on where zeal is mentioned in the scriptures and found the zeal is not necessarily bad, but when it is out of balance they become over-zealous and soon do things on their time table and not the Lord's. This is where it appears they are incapable of thinking beyond the end of their noses. Zeniff is a good example of this.
"And ye all are witnesses this day, that Zeniff, who was made king over this people, he being over-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, who having entered into a treaty with king Zeniff, and having yielded up into his hands the possessions of a part of the land, or even the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom; and the land round about - "
(Mosiah 7:21)
"And yet, I being over-zealous to inherit the land of our fathers, collected as many as were desirous to go up to possess the land, and started again on our journey into the wilderness to go up to the land; but we were smitten with famine and sore affliction; for we were slow to remember the Lord our God."
(Mosiah 9:3)
The people of Ammon were a zealous people, but they stayed in remembrance of the Lord and sought to do his will. That is why they were so blessed. The Lord said to them "...blessed are this people in this generation, for I will preserve them." (Alma 28:12) The Lord did preserve them by bringing them out of the land. Later that blessing of protection extended to their sons the 2000 stripling warriors. This is a lesson in not becoming unbalanced in our lives.
Day 1885
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