Consequences

"For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them." (Mosiah 7:29)

God has promised us that he will protect us and bless us when we keep the commandments. This is a lesson that King Limhi explains to Ammon, through learning the consequences of not keeping the commandments.

These people, from Zeniff to King Noah, then to Limhi, wanted to go live in what they claimed to be the original land of the Nephites. As of this chapter, there isn't a lot of history known yet of these people, but in later readings, we'll remember about wicked King Noah and the problems he brought about by being wicked.

And so by living through that experience, or at least having been taught about it, Limhi and his people have clearly learned (the hard way) that there are consequences if the people don't keep the commandments.

Limhi has a lot of faith, however, that they can be delivered from the bondage that they are in.

"But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." (Mosiah 7:33)

Limhi just knows that if they are righteous, they will be delivered. He and his people have learned to trust God, because He told them about the negative consequences of wickedness. They were ready to try to be righteous so they could experience the positive consequences of being that way. They knew the promise was true because they had experienced the same thing on the other side of the coin.

Sometimes it takes our own experiences to learn hard lessons. This is one of those, however, that seems like we can learn from without our having to go through the negative consequences.

Ultimately, we choose our path, including our consequences. While we can't just choose any consequence we want, we can choose our consequences by choosing the actions that result in that consequence. The more we learn to walk in faith and righteousness, the better our blessings (positive consequences).