20 And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence.
This promise is referred to over and over in The Book of
Mormon. It’s almost as if the people (at least the righteous ones) cling to
this promise with their might. As well they should. There is no evidence that I
can find in the scriptures that would indicate the Lord does not want his
people to prosper. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that the opposite is
true. He wants to bless all of his
children. As it turns out, though, we are our own worst enemies. The Lord
stands ready and willing to bless us, but how often do we, through our sin
and/or weakness refuse to accept? Why, when we have so much evidence before us,
so we reject His blessing and assistance? And then, when we do receive his
blessing, we take it for granted, and get proud in those blessings, such that we stop doing the things for which
those blessings are a reward. So they are removed again. Individuals may not be
predictable all the time, but groups of people can usually be counted on to be
predictable in behavior, and as a people, we can pretty much count on the
Nephite “pride cycle” to apply. And this same blessing that applies to our
temporal lives also applies to our eternal salvation. Heavenly Father, who
loves us all beyond measure, wants success for all his children. He wants us all
to return to him, but we are the ones who cut ourselves off from His presence,
based on our desires and behavior.
- Leviticus 26: 3 (3–20)
- Psalm 67: 6
- Proverbs 22: 4 (4–5)
- Joel 2: 25 (23–26)
- Amos 5: 4 (4–8)
- Jarom 1: 9
- Omni 1: 6
- Mosiah 1: 7
- Mosiah 2: 24 (21–25)
- Mosiah 26: 30
- Alma 9: 13 (13–14)
- Alma 36: 30
- Alma 37: 13
- 3 Nephi 5: 22
- D&C 82: 10
