Our
Gift to Christ: A Mighty Change of Heart
As
we are in the midst of this Christmas season I wanted to reflect on our
Savior's birth and life and what it means to follow Him. I'd like to
share some of my study this week from Alma in The Book of Mormon. Alma
was a prophet in Ancient America who gave up his position of authority in the
judgment seat to preach and be able to be among his people. He first goes to Zarahemla and they have
strayed from the teachings of the prophets about Christ. He begins by telling them who he is and
asking them to remember their deliverance from bondage of the wicked King Noah
who taxed them heavily and persecuted those who believed in Christ’s
coming. This is about 83 BC so they have
faith that he will come from the words of the Lord to the prophets.
Alma
5:3 “I, Alma, having been consecrated by my father, Alma, to be a high priest
over the church of God, he having power and authority from God to do these
things, behold, I say unto you that he began to establish a church in the land
which was in the borders of Nephi; yea, the land which was called the land of
Mormon; yea, and he did baptize his brethren in the waters of Mormon.
4 And behold, I say unto you, they were
delivered out of the hands of the people of king Noah, by the mercy and power
of God.
5 And behold, after that, they were brought
into bondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the wilderness; yea, I say unto
you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bondage
by the power of his word; and we were brought into this land, and here we began
to establish the church of God throughout this land also.
6 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren,
you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance
the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in
remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye
sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from
hell?”
Alma
wants them to remember their deliverance by God. He testifies and pleads with them to
repent. He says that the Lord, “changed their hearts, awakened them out
of a deep sleep and they awoke unto God.” (vs. 7)
Then
he reminds the people of his father’s conversion from the words of the prophet
Abinadi, “Behold, I can tell you—did not my father Alma believe in the words
which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi? And was he not a holy prophet?
Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them? And
according to his faith there was a mighty
change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.”
(vs 11-12)
So
he speaks of his father’s change of heart and reminds his people that their
fathers heard and listened to the prophet and, “a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled
themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they
were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.” (vs. 13)
Then
he asks the members of the church, “have ye spiritually been born of God? Have
ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him
who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal
body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to
stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in
the mortal body?” (vs 14-15)
He
then asks some poignant questions that make you search your soul if you
visualize yourself as whom he is talking to.
“I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of
the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold,
your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie
unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works
upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?
Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves
brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and
remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of
all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the
commandments of God?
I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that
day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having
the image of God engraven upon your countenances?”
As
I thought about these I was grateful for the power of the Atonement that cleanses
us completely when we repent and forsake any sin. The Atonement covers so much more such as our
grief, sorrow and pain, but these verses are asking if we are clean and pure
and ready to meet God. We can be if we
apply the Atonement of Christ where He gives us hope and a new life. Just as Alma said, we are born again
spiritually when we give up sin and turn from our old ways and become new. We can’t lie to God. He knows us perfectly. He knows our hearts and our thoughts and our
desires. This is how he can love us
perfectly in spite of our actions. He
sees our potential and knows who we were before we came to earth. He wants us to see this as well. Do we ask Him who we were? Who we are?
Who we can become? Try this in
your prayers tonight. Make time to
listen. The answer will come. He is waiting to bless us. He will help us and send comfort and peace
and encouragement. He loves you and
me.
Alma
goes on in his preaching to ask, “ And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren,
if ye have experienced a change of heart,
and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye
feel so now?”
Have
you felt His love? Have you perhaps felt
that there was more or something else you needed to do? Ask Him.
If it seems as though it’s been a while since you felt His love He has
never left. He is still there waiting
for your return.
Do
you see a pattern here? As I read I
began to think of how I have felt this change in my heart. A mighty change of heart
starts with the desire to be better. If
we want to feel to sing the song of redeeming love it starts now. I know He loves me. I have felt His love and forgiveness as I
turn to Him.
Alma
says, “…the Lord God hath spoken it! Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men,
for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I
will receive you. Yea, he saith: Come
unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall
eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely...”
So
this invitation is open to all. His arms of mercy are extended towards us. He again pleads for us to Come unto Him.
Alma
then says, “I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in
his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not
hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are
called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd,” and, “whatsoever is
good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.” (vs.
38-40)
So
Christ is our good shepherd. He loves
and calls us to Him. Whatever is good is
from God. We know who to follow and
how.
Alma
bears testimony that what he’s said is true and tells them how he knows, “And
this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold,
I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are
true. And how do ye suppose that I know
of their surety?
Behold, I say unto you they are made known
unto me by the Holy Spirit of God.
Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I
do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the
spirit of revelation which is in me.
And
moreover, I say unto you that it has thus been revealed unto me, that the words
which have been spoken by our fathers are true, even so according to the spirit
of prophecy which is in me, which is also by the manifestation of the Spirit of
God.
I say unto you, that I know of myself that
whatsoever I shall say unto you, concerning that which is to come, is true; and
I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the
Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And behold,
it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every
man who steadfastly believeth on his name.” (vs. 45-48)
So
if we want to know the truth for ourselves we need to fast, pray and listen for
the spirit. It takes work. It takes commitment and it takes love to
follow our Savior. As we reflect on his
birth the next few weeks let’s also ponder what we can do to know His truth and
be like Him. Let’s make our gift to our Savior our own mighty change of heart.
