One or the Other

Today I was reading 2 Nephi: 2  which is a letter from Lehi to his sons trying to urge them to make good choices and believe in God.  His arguments are very compelling and clear, however we know they weren't enough to persuade Laman and Lemuel to fear God and believe.  Neither were angels.  A few verses stuck out to me. 

16. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself.  Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.
28. …I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and CHOOSE ETERNAL LIFE, according to the will of his holy spirit;
29. And not CHOOSE ETERNAL DEATH, according to the WILL OF THE FLESH and the evil which is therein,  which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

I found that last bit pretty powerful.  Satan wants to reign over us… and those souls he is cunning enough to trick into following him he will rule over for eternity and make slaves of them, and torment them.   It is a sad realization to think about and accept!  But it really is as simple as "one or the other".  All choices can influence and move you forward in following one or the other.  Sure they are not as drastic always- for example on a Saturday morning I can decide to lay in bed and sleep in, thus giving in to my will of the flesh, being lazy and slothful, or I can hop up and read my scriptures, or play with my kids, or get busy doing yard work, or cleaning the house.  It doesn't seem like this decision is life changing or eternal, but it is a baby step in either direction.  Line upon line.

As I was reading in "Zion: Seeking the City of Enoch" a paragraph stuck out to me that I remembered as I was reading my scriptures this morning. 

In a conversation the main character of  the book is having with his father, his father counsels him:

"Beware of your enemies."

"Which?" he responds

"Poverty and ignorance," he said.  "They're the worst.  Ignorance is a conqueror's doctrine because an ignorant people is an easily controlled people.  The wicked use ignorance to enslave.  Ignorance shackles people to poverty, and poverty deflates hope."

I found this council to be invaluable.  Knowledge really is power.  The adversary would have us remain ignorant and stay complacently engaged in the meaningless entertainments of the world, never progressing.  There are more forms of entertainment and ways to get distracted today than ever before with games, tablets, smart phones, netflix, hulu, unlimited streaming wifi etc.  . We need to read, study, and learn. We need to stop watching movies and sitcoms that eat away those precious hours of each day, and crack open a book, or the scriptures.  Each day we don’t move forward… we move backwards.  If we remain ignorant we will become blind.  If we don’t open our eyes we will find ourselves in deep poverty.  Not necessarily from things of the world… money shelter and food, but spiritually our stores will dwindle and be found empty.  We will start to lose our hope.  It takes hope to nurture faith.  It takes faith to kindle and feed our fires which are our testimonies.  It is a lifelong task, not a once and done. 

Each day is filled with choices that will be baby steps forward or backwards.  It is up to us to listen to the internal voices of our conscience which is the Light of Christ, or to give into the "will of the flesh" and coast through life.  Its time we give notice to the  "I should's" we have been putting off and procrastinating, and muffling under the noise of our television set.  Take action.  Wake up.  It really comes down to us, and it is really as simple as "one or the other."