Alma 40

In Alma 40, we learn that the spirits of all men - good or evil - are taken to a spirit world after death where they are in a paradise of peace and rest or where they are tormented by the lives they have led as they await resurrection and judgment.

There is an interesting statement Alma makes in passing: "all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men." (v. 8) For God, all things are present. He knows all things, and in his omniscience, there is no past, present, or future. We measure the passing seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years. But our lives are very short windows in the timeline of eternity. If we had some of that eternal perspective, we might live our short earthly lives differently. Amulek taught (Alma 34):

32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

 33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
 
We should use the day of this life that we have been given to prepare for eternity.

Alma 39

11 Suffer not yourself to be led away by any vain or foolish thing; suffer not the devil to lead away your heart again after those wicked harlots. Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words.

Corianton was a missionary who allowed himself to be lured away from his missionary labor by a wanton woman. Alma's words must have stung: "When they saw your conduct they would not believe." Our deeds speak louder than our words. Everyone observes how we act and live our lives. If they see a life of hypocrisy, they may turn from what we believe.

The epistle of James tells us that "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." You can't profess belief in one thing and then live something else and be stable and at peace. And when you live in ways contrary to the truth you know, you display the kind of hypocrisy that drives people away from the truth. It's hard to separate the message from the messenger.

Corianton is a happy example. He apparently listened to his father, repented, and is mentioned later in the Book of Mormon as a servant of the Lord. (See Alma 49:30)

Alma 38

  5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your ^atrust in God even so much ye shall be ^bdelivered out of your trials, and your ^ctroubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.


This promise appears again and again in the Book of Mormon. It's not a promise of safety from trials, but it is a promise of delivery from affliction. One central message of the Book of Mormon is that those who endure in faith  and in obedience to the commandments of God eventually overcome every trial.


 12 Use ^aboldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye ^bbridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.


This counsel of Alma to his son Shiblon is good counsel to all as we teach others. We can be bold in teaching the truth without being overbearing and seeking to impose our will on others. I think that's why this counsel is immediately followed with the advice to bridle all passions so that we can be filled with love for others. One of the great challenges of parenthood is to teach children with patience and love when they are exasperatingly slow to listen. Applying these principles makes the difference. I wish I had understood sooner so that I would have been a better father when I needed to be.

Alma 37

The Liahona was the brass "compass" that Lehi found at his tent door one morning early in their travel in the wilderness. It wasn't a compass that we would recognize. A magnetic compass always points one direction -- it aligns with the earth's magnetic field and points north. The Liahona pointed the way they should travel as long as they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God and following the direction of the prophet Lehi and the writing which appeared from time to time on the Liahona itself. When they were disobedient or neglectful, the Liahona did not work for them.


Alma's great analogy in this discourse to his son Helaman follows:


  43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a ^ashadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.

  44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the ^aword of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

  45 And now I say, is there not a ^atype in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

  46 O my son, do not let us be ^aslothful because of the ^beasiness of the ^cway; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would ^dlook they might ^elive; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

The holy scriptures are our compass -- our guide to eternal life. If we look at the map and follow it, we will find our way to peace in this life and eternal life with God.