Helaman 14: 30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.
31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.
The choice is ours! Pre-mortally we valiantly fought for the gift of agency, and now we have the incredible gift. We have the freedom to choose whom we will follow. We get to choose light or darkness, love or hatred, kindness or bitterness, understanding or offense, contempt or peace, temporary excitement or eternal joy. “How long will ye choose darkness rather than light?” (Helaman 13:29) Everyday the choice is placed before us. Satan is working over time, in fact, Russell M. Nelson said he is “quadrupling” his efforts to pull each one of us down to dark pits of confusion, distraction, and complacency, where we can’t feel the gentle but persistent promptings from the Savior. Remember, we are never left alone, as Satan quadruples his efforts, Christ and the hosts of heaven are quadrupling their efforts to lift us higher—to the path of righteous which leads to the light of eternity, the hope of heavenly glory and to the peace and joy of overcoming the world.
We are free to listen to the “voice of the Lord”, (Helaman 12:3) that will guide us through the darkness. “The spirit of the Lord was with him insomuch that they could not hit him with swords or arrows.” (Helaman 16:2) It is the same in our lives, the spirit will direct and protect us from harm. The voice of the Lord can come from personal revelation as well as prophetic revelation. “Personal revelation is available to all those who humbly seek guidance from the Lord. It is as important as prophetic revelation.” (Quentin L. Cook- April 2020) Personal revelation gives us personal guidance to our everyday lives. Prophetic revelation guides the church as a whole, even though through that there is individual guidance given, and when followed, blessing will result. Many today want to disregard the prophetic revelation today, that is a scary place to be, prophets have always spoken and they are the mouth piece of the Lord. “Wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time. And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out.” (Helaman 13:24-25)
We are free to choose repentance. “Nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Helaman 13:6) “Blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me.” (Helaman 14:11) “If ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins.” (Helaman 14:13)
We get to choose how we spend our days. “Prepare the way of the Lord.” (Helaman 14:9) “They are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth.” (Helaman 14:6)
Ultimately, we are free to choose to love, know, and follow Jesus Christ. “That ye might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name.” (Helaman 14:12) Through Christ freedom:agency has been gifted to us, with a perfect plan for redemption…if we choose! “Ye know of yourselves are firm and steadfast in the faith, and in the thing wherewith they have been made free.” (Helaman 15:8) “Because of their steadfastness when they do believe in that thing which they do believe, for because of their firmness when they are once enlightened, behold, the Lord shall bless them and prolong their days, notwithstanding their iniquity—“ (Helaman 15:10) “The Lord shall be merciful unto them.” (Helaman 15:13) This is the “glad tidings of great joy.” that we all seek. (Helaman 16:14)
-Sherri Jorgensen
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