Tonight I read Alma 21: 23 "And Ammon did preach unto the people of king Lamoni; and it came to pass that he did teach them all things concerning things pertaining to righteousness. And he did exhort them daily, with all diligence; and they gave heed unto his word, and they were zealous for keeping the commandments of God."
I looked at the Greek meaning of zealous and it literally means "hot enough to boil"... in other words boiling love or zeal for good (or bad), to have warmth or feeling towards, enthusiasm, burning emotion, eagerness. I want to be someone who can be described as being zealous for keeping the commandments of God! Someone who heeds the words of the Savior, the prophet and other leaders. Such a beautiful description of these converts!
Jackie’s definition is lovely: “Thank you for sharing that. I always thought zealous meant not only something that you are overly passionate about, but joyfully so. I was a little off.” I don’t think she was off!
My response to her: “I think that fits! I actually really like that description, Jackie. When I picture boiling water...that can lead to thoughts of like anger and being about to explode...but it can also feel like the water is getting hotter and hotter until it's ready to burst (with joy/enthusiasm/excitement...I recognize that scientifically it's about to transform from liquid water to gas water--ie water vapor--but that image of it about to transition, when the boiling is just starting and you can see the bubble grow and expand and then pop...that feels joyful...like letting the gospel begin to swell until you burst with joy and need to share or act upon it. It's transformative, just like water boiling!”
This especially contrasts with one Amalekite taught by Aaron who after hearing Aaron preach of Christ responded: “there arose an Amalekite and began to contend with him, saying: What is that thou hast testified? Hast thou seen an angel? Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold are not this people as good as thy people?
6 Thou also sayest, except we repent we shall perish. How knowest thou the thought and intent of our hearts? How knowest thou that we have cause to repent? How knowest thou that we are not a righteous people? Behold, we have built sanctuaries, and we do assemble ourselves together to worship God. We do believe that God will save all men.
7 Now Aaron said unto him: Believest thou that the Son of God shall come to redeem mankind from their sins?
8 And the man said unto him: We do not believe that thou knowest any such thing. We do not believe in these foolish traditions. We do not believe that thou knowest of things to come, neither do we believe that thy fathers and also that our fathers did know concerning the things which they spake, of that which is to come.”
Basically, you can’t prove Christ will come, so we don’t believe. And how dare you say we need to repent because you don’t know our past, our experiences, what we’re going through, our minds and hearts.!
Such a difference!
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