Today I read 3 Nephi 15, where the Savior talks to the Nephites about the Law of Moses. As I was reading this chapter I couldn't help but notice the symbolism between the Law of Moses and our own lives and baptism.
Jesus taught the Nephites that the Law of Moses was fulfilled in Him and that it was all fulfilled and that not one little bit of it had not been fulfilled and that is must pass away because it was now fulfilled. So it got me thinking about us and how when we are baptized our old life is done with, over and we need to be walking with a newness of life as the scriptures state.
Have you ever noticed when a person is baptized as an adult that they are full of the Spirit and really excited and can't get enough of the church and they just want to share the Gospel with everyone they know? That is because they have felt the Spirit and a change of heart. They are changing and can't help but feel the Spirit as it makes those changes in them. The problem is that most of the people allow that fire to go down from a bonfire to a blaze to embers and in some sad cases go out all together.
I almost have to wonder if the reason they are so high on life is they have been forgiven of their sins? I was baptized at 8 years old and I remember feeling peaceful and wonderful, but I don't remember being full of zeal like an adult who is baptized. But I did have an experience where a good friend of mine committed a grievous sin and went through a long period of repentance and when they were finally brought back into full fellowship, the two of us rejoiced and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life! So if a person can rejoice over being forgiven for only one sin like that, how wonderful would the rejoicing be to be cleansed from a lifetime of sin? I imagine the feeling would be euphoric!
However, we can all feel that happiness the Holy Ghost brings if we keep our lives in line with the teachings of the church and live a righteous life and keep the Spirit about us. I really do believe that the happiness I feel that I talked about yesterday is because I live the commandments of the church. I try and live a good life and stay full of the Spirit. This is the path that leads to a change of heart, which we have already discussed several times on here.
We must be like the Savior says, old things pass away and all things are become new. We can do this everyday as we repent and strive to be better than we were the previous day. Perfection is not an impossible goal, it just takes persistence and a growing a little bit each and every day. Just like we can be poisoned by degrees and lose our salvation, so too can we become perfect by degrees, if we want to. It does have to be our choice. God gave us our agency for this exact purpose. It is the most important decision we have to make in this life, who do we want to be? Do we want to live a Christ centered life? Or do we want to spend our life in riotous living and settle for less than our potential. The choice has been left to each of us. Be sure to choose wisely. Until tomorrow.
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