Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man – 2 Nephi 28:31 – Come, Follow Me Ponderize
2 Nephi 28:31
Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.
The word cursed is not a small thing, when someone or something is cursed, that is a very serious condition. Let’s look at a cursing that was set on the people of Laman and Lemuel to understand the seriousness of the condition of a curse.
2 Nephi 5:21–24
21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.
22 And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.
23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.
24 And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.
Notice how cursing will come upon all those who “mix with” those that are cursed, even that the curse will befall upon them as well. Genetically speaking, it is easier to see how this will be, but you have also heard that you become the average of your 5 closest friends. So, it is imperative that we “mix with” those that will uplift and inspire us to be better and come unto Christ or we will find that we are going away from Him, even that we become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and do seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey (or in other words, a sliding backwards in spiritual things always brings a sliding backwards in physical things as well).
This sliding of spiritual and physical things is expressed so well in the verse right before our ponderize scripture.
2 Nephi 28:30
For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.
Quite simply, if we are not trusting in God and growing in light and truth and becoming more and more like Christ, then we are trusting in man and losing the light we once had and spiritually dying and becoming more and more cursed.
The Prophet Joseph Smith once said: “Men not unfrequently forget that they are dependent upon heaven for every blessing which they are permitted to enjoy, and that for every opportunity granted them they are to give an account. You know, brethren, that when the master in the Savior’s parable of the stewards called his servants before him he gave them several talents to improve on while he should tarry abroad for a little season, and when he returned he called for an accounting. So it is now. Our Master is absent only for a little season, and at the end of it he will call each to render an account; and where five talents were bestowed, ten will be required; and he that has made no improvement will be cast out as an unprofitable servant, while the faithful will enjoy everlasting honors.”
In another discourse the Prophet Joseph Smith said the following:
“… If God should speak from heaven, he would command you not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to covet, nor deceive, but be faithful over a few things. As far as we degenerate from God, we descend to the devil and lose knowledge, and without knowledge, we cannot be saved, and while our hearts are filled with evil, and we are studying evil, there is no room in our hearts for good, or studying good. Is not God good? Then you be good; if he is faithful, then you be faithful. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, and seek for every good thing.
“. . . A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God.”
I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be in a position where I am “brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world.” For me, I know that it is time for me to do more, where are you at, is it time for you to also do more? We have been entrusted with some many talents and such great knowledge, and yet we must be more actively trusting in God and developing those talents and growing our knowledge in Spiritual things. Let us climb the ladder, let us grow and glow in the light of the Spirit, and let us become like Christ. It is my time and it is your time, let us step up to and live into our privileges and our Divine potential and nature.
Craig
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