"Having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent." (Mosiah 16:12)
I feel like this describes me sometimes.
The phrase "they would not". It's kind of poignant. It doesn't mean they didn't see the arms of mercy extended. They saw them and wouldn't allow themselves to be encircled by them. It doesn't mean they didn't realize their iniquities, it means they knew about them and chose not to depart from them. It doesn't mean they didn't realize they should repent, they just decided not to.
I feel like I'm not alone in feeling like this describes me sometimes. This seems like a good description of what it's like to be the "natural man". That we sometimes give in to these things. It's different than being unaware of a certain principle or truth. It's different than not recognizing the Spirit when he tells us to make a certain choice. It's more willful, as in we just choose that path sometimes.
I feel like the goal of this life is to learn how to not make that choice. To (as I talked about in my previous post) turn our will over to God and do what He would want us to do.
Hopefully I can replace "they would not" with "they would" in my own life, and take every opportunity to do God's will, even until it becomes my will.
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