There are people who are meant to be examples to others. Their lives are a testimony of their faith, and their convictions are solid and immovable. They inspire me to do better, to examine my own walk and make the needed course corrections.
One such person was Abinidi, a prophet from the Book of Mormon. If you want to read more about him, you can click here: Abinidi's Life - Chapters 11-17 .
Abinidi's entire mission was to warn the people of King Noah that they needed to repent and help them to turn their lives around. He wasn't the least bit concerned that this made King Noah angry, uncomfortable or that his life would be in danger by following through on his mission. He had a message to deliver, and he wasn't going to be deterred in any way until he completed his mission.
He is the epitome of steadfast and immovable. He called out the king, questioned his leadership, and made the consequences very clear:
20 And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi; and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy, saying: Behold, thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me, saying, Go forth, and say unto this people, thus saith the Lord—Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will visit them in mine anger.
21 And except they repent and turn to the Lord their God, behold, I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies; yea, and they shall be brought into bondage; and they shall be afflicted by the hand of their enemies.
22 And it shall come to pass that they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of my people.
23 And it shall come to pass that except this people repent and turn unto the Lord their God, they shall be brought into bondage; and none shall deliver them, except it be the Lord the Almighty God.
24 Yea, and it shall come to pass that when they shall cry unto me I will be slow to hear their cries; yea, and I will suffer them that they be smitten by their enemies.
25 And except they repent in sackcloth and ashes, and cry mightily to the Lord their God, I will not hear their prayers, neither will I deliver them out of their afflictions; and thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me.
When a prophet tells you 4 times to repent, you better take a good hard look at your life and figure out what he is talking about. Fortunately Abinidi is so clear ; there is no way his words could be mistaken. And King Noah doesn't care - AT ALL ! He's more than happy to continue the path of idolatry, greed, burdening others for his own gain and complete disregard for the teachings of Abinidi, his father and his ancestors. It is astounding to me that he could hear all of this and his heart be so very blinded to his own personal sins and misdeeds
And Abinidi's message almost sinks in ...King Noah gets really close to letting Abinidi go...unfortunately, he only gets close before his wicked priest convince him otherwise.
And Abinidi's message almost sinks in ...King Noah gets really close to letting Abinidi go...unfortunately, he only gets close before his wicked priest convince him otherwise.
So why am I telling you the story of Abinidi and what does it have to do with my work dilemma I spoke about in last week's blog ? Let me get to the point. The last few verses of chapter 17 are the account of the very last words of Abinidi as the flames are burning him to death. He doesn't mince words:
14 And now when the flames began to scorch him, he cried unto them, saying:
15 Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God.
16 And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities.
17 Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts.
18 And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of death by fire.
20 And now, when Abinadi had said these words, he fell, having suffered death by fire; yea, having been put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God, having sealed the truth of his words by his death.
And that is what stopped me in my tracks. Verse 20. He was put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God.
How in the world can I stand before my youth and tell them about keeping the commandments, keeping the Sabbath day holy and not find any other way around my work dilemma ? Did I even try to find a solution ? Sadly to say that up to that point, I had not. I was willing to give into the story I was telling myself, " I have to work." I promise you, there was nothing forcing me to work. I chose to be the captain, I chose to participate and I wanted to make a different choice.
I wasn't sure I could find a replacement, or even a decent compromise, but I was 100% certain that if I didn't ask, I wouldn't know what my options were. However, I felt as if somehow it would all work out.
I spoke to my colleague and told him of my situation. He immediately said, " I can take the team for you so you can teach your kids. That is much more important than being at the Walk." (This conversation took place via IM and when I saw his words, tears came to my eyes.)
Yes, indeed, it is more important. Our solution was that I would handle the set up of our table, meet with the team for photos and then hand over the rest of the event to my colleague. And that is exactly what I did. I left the event, quickly drove to the freeway and arrived just in time for my class to start. They were surprised to see me, and I was surprised I made it on time. I told them the story of how I was able to be there and while I am not entirely sure it mattered to them all that much, it mattered to me. It helped me remember that sometimes we have to stretch ourselves to keep the commandments. I needed the lesson as well as the reminder.
I may have been called to be their teacher by the Bishop, but there is absolutely no denying that they are the ones that teach me, encourage me and inspire me to be a better member of the Church and a better person overall. I thank them for being the catalyst behind this lesson and for giving me yet another reason to continue to read the Book of Mormon. And thank you, Abinidi, for your unwavering faith and commitment to keeping the commandments. I am striving to follow in your footsteps.
It has been a glorious week!
RMC
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