"3 Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither have I told you that which ye requested that I should tell; therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time.
4 But I must fulfil the commandments wherewith God has commanded me; and because I have told you the truth ye are angry with me. And again, because I have spoken the word of God ye have judged me that I am mad." (Mosiah 13:3-4)
King Noah commanded his men to take Abinadi and slay him. He didn't want to hear about how he and his people would be destroyed. He was angry. The truth is, he probably didn't like that little stirring of guilt inside when he heard the words of Abinadi.
But when they tried to take him, Abinadi flat out told them that he hadn't delivered his message yet, and they would be destroyed if they touched him. They believed him and backed off. It probably helped that his face started shining with exceeding luster. The spirit was upon him like Moses' experience when he spoke face to face with God. He went on to continue his message.
"7 Ye see that ye have not power to slay me, therefore I finish my message. Yea, and I perceive that it cuts you to your hearts because I tell you the truth concerning your iniquities.
8 Yea, and my words fill you with wonder and amazement, and with anger.
9 But I finish my message; and then it matters not whither I go, if it so be that I am saved." (Mosiah 13:7-9)
One thing that I really like about Abinadi is that he knew what he was supposed to do, and he even knew the possibility that they might end up killing him. He wasn't trying to use God's power to escape or protect himself. He just wanted to share the message that he was sent to share. He even says that it didn't matter what they did to him afterwards, as long as he got to share his message, and that he is saved.
Eventually, they do kill Abinadi, which is sad to me. Someone as righteous and determined to do God's will as him certainly will be saved (as he desired when he said it didn't matter what happened to him after he got to share his message.)
This attitude of Abinadi makes me wonder a bit about my own willingness to serve the Lord. I know that I love Him and I've got a testimony. However, if I recognized the very real possibility that I might die in the middle of serving God, I'm not entirely sure I would be as willing.
Something to work on, for sure.
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