Alma 23

I read Alma 23 last night. It talks about the Lamanite king and his entire household becoming converted and then the king made it illegal to mess with Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni (the prophets at the time), who then went tracking. Seven cities of Lamanites ended up converting, repenting, and laying down their weapons of war. It got me thinking...what are weapons of war? I thought about bows and arrows, cimeters...those kinds of things mentioned in the Book of Mormon. But we don't use those anymore. So what ARE weapons of war?

I got to thinking, and the thought came to me that choosing the right is often referred to as a battle against Satan. In a sense, I guess "weapons of war" could be our choices, our actions. While wrong choices might not causes physical bloodshed or harm, they cause harm to our Spirits.

Sister Dibb told a story during the General Young Women Broadcast on Saturday about a man who went to his neighbor's farm to steal some corn one evening. "He took his little boy with him to sit on the fence and keep a look-out, so as to give warning in case anyone should come along. The man jumped over the fence with a large bag on his arm, and before commencing to take the corn, he looked all around. First one way, and then the other. And not seeing any person, he was just about to fill his bag. The boy then called out, 'Father, there is one way you haven't looked yet! You forgot to look up!'"

When we are tempted to do something wrong, we tend to think that it's not going to hurt anyone, what's the big deal? Who's going to find out anyway? But sin ALWAYS hurts the one doing it, and most of the time, it hurts someone else too, whether we realize it or not. We also hurt God; we disappoint Him. Alma 23:7 says about the converted Lamanites, "...they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more..." God has commanded us to be humble and repent. We should also lay down our "weapons of war," our rebellion, our sins, everything...I believe that that is the way back to the Celestial Kingdom, where we can live with our Heavenly Father once more.