Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 45:16

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 45:16

"And he said: Thus saith the Lord God - Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance."

This made me sit and ponder on what it means to be "fully ripe". Yesterday, I was going through a basket of fruit to determine what was ripe and what was rotted. The intent was to cut up all the good fruit and dehydrate it, so I could preserve it before was rotted. Now I reflect on what I observed. 

We had cantaloupe, bananas, kiwi, apricots, plums, and nectarines. Some fruit was moldy and bad and it was made worse by one bad fruit sitting next to another, causing it to rot. Those were immediately tossed out. Then I had some that were not rotted but overripe. One could eat it right then but it was mushy, and not so desirable. It was far to ripe to slice and put in the dehydrator to preserve it. Some fruit we cut up and as I sit here I can hear the hum of the dehydrator with them in it. A few of them we reserved in order to eat right away. Out of curiosity I went and looked at what we had held back yesterday. A couple of them were now soft where yesterday they were not. Those had missed the dehydrator so they had to be eaten right now. If I really wanted to preserve them I would have cut them up and put them in the dehydrator yesterday. I washed these off and sat and ate them while I pondered on this verse. 

What I am realizing now is that to be fully ripe means your not overripe or rotted. It means if you don't pick it when fully ripe it can no longer be preserved, the usefulness of its purpose has come to an end. I would say then that the Lord's curse upon this land,  when the wicked are fully ripe and destruction comes, is done as a means of preservation. In the case of the wicked they are destroyed, tossed out, so they do not infect the remaining righteous.

My dehydrator is a slow steady heat, it not only preserves my fruit, but it intensifies its flavor. The heat of the refiners fire is a mean of bringing out the sweetness and goodness in the fruit. It's heat is a means of preserving it, just like going through the heat and wrath around me helps to preserve me.  

The last days destruction is then merciful to the saints, for the Lord is preserving them before they are infected by others. Yes, the wicked are destroyed and also some of His saints caught in the fray. But if the fruit is judged to be good it is preserved unto Him. I have to trust the master's hand that whatever I am called to endure is for a wise purpose in his hands.

Day 1903