I ran across these verses as
part of Zeniff’s record in the Book of Mosiah where Zeniff summarizes the
trouble with living by the Lamanites:
17 And
thus they [the Lamanites] have taught their children that they should hate
them, and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder
them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred
towards the children of Nephi.
18 For
this very cause has king Laman, by his cunning, and lying craftiness, and his
fair promises, deceived me, that I have brought this my people up into this
land, that they may destroy them; yea, and we have suffered these many years in
the land. (Mosiah 10:17-18)
If you substitute “Satan” in place of “King Laman,” you can
see how appropriate this is as a lesson about what Satan tries to do. He will use cunning, lying craftiness,
and fair promises to deceive us, to bring us into a dangerous place so he can
destroy us, or else cause as much suffering as possible. He will also teach his children to
hate, murder, plunder, and do all kinds of destruction to the children of
light.
The trouble is, Zeniff, who is in this predicament, was the other
part of the equation. He
contributed to his own beguilement because he wanted to live in the land near
the Lamanites. He saw something he thought was good among them, and he thought
that would preclude the Lamanites from trying to destroy him and his
people. But it didn’t.
So, this tells us that we, like Zeniff, also contribute to
our own beguiling. We see something we think is good in Babylon, and we think
that will preclude Satan from hating us and trying to destroy us. But it doesn’t.
In Satan’s case, the good is a deception, a counterfeit. Any good he offers is
only a fair promise given with lying craftiness to draw us in.
Today let’s pray for discernment to see Satan’s fair
promises as the lies they are, and pray for the power to resist.
0 comments:
Post a Comment