Felt like I needed another chapter in the Book of Mormon today. I may not be done.
I'm grateful that I went on, I got to hear a favorite story. It's probably my children's favorite story because they love the blood and guts and Ammon's courageousness. I value the story these days for Ammon's consistent awareness of the promptings of the Spirit. I wonder if he thought to himself, like Nephi, that he was going into this people not knowing beforehand what he would do. He was prompted with a series of situations and questions where he could have made different choices that would have diffused the whole purpose of being there. Even his attitude of going in and offering himself a servant may have seemed like procrastination of his purpose of being there to bring souls to Christ. He could have worried that his rejecting the proposal to marry king Lamoni's daughter might have offended.
I have to assume that he received promptings of the Spirit to know which decisions to make. Even to the statement that he would might stay with them until he died.
As we know the story unfolds with Ammon fighting and killing many of those that stood to scatter the flocks. How had he become such a great warrior? Maybe he had fought in some wars. Regardless, I know Ammon and those that carefully follow the Spirit to be the type of people that do not delight in the shedding of blood. The spirit must have told him that this was the correct course of action, such that he could take confidence in pursuing that course of action. Compared with Nephi, I don't doubt that there was still that hatred of shedding blood, hence he reverted to cutting off arms instead of killing. So powerful.
His next choice of actions is what really gets me, and yet it is so subtle and straightforward. He followed every word of command with exactness, and went straight to caring for the king's horses. I guess we read about that next.
I'm grateful that I went on, I got to hear a favorite story. It's probably my children's favorite story because they love the blood and guts and Ammon's courageousness. I value the story these days for Ammon's consistent awareness of the promptings of the Spirit. I wonder if he thought to himself, like Nephi, that he was going into this people not knowing beforehand what he would do. He was prompted with a series of situations and questions where he could have made different choices that would have diffused the whole purpose of being there. Even his attitude of going in and offering himself a servant may have seemed like procrastination of his purpose of being there to bring souls to Christ. He could have worried that his rejecting the proposal to marry king Lamoni's daughter might have offended.
I have to assume that he received promptings of the Spirit to know which decisions to make. Even to the statement that he would might stay with them until he died.
As we know the story unfolds with Ammon fighting and killing many of those that stood to scatter the flocks. How had he become such a great warrior? Maybe he had fought in some wars. Regardless, I know Ammon and those that carefully follow the Spirit to be the type of people that do not delight in the shedding of blood. The spirit must have told him that this was the correct course of action, such that he could take confidence in pursuing that course of action. Compared with Nephi, I don't doubt that there was still that hatred of shedding blood, hence he reverted to cutting off arms instead of killing. So powerful.
His next choice of actions is what really gets me, and yet it is so subtle and straightforward. He followed every word of command with exactness, and went straight to caring for the king's horses. I guess we read about that next.
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