Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read that the wicked will be cut off and destroyed  unless they repent, and all lyings, envyings, and whoredoms will be done away.  However, those who are willing to repent will be numbered with God's people.  Sounds like a good idea to repent!  3 Nephi 21:14-22 "Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they repent; for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots; And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds; And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers; Thy graven images I will also cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands; And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities. And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, shall be done away. For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel; And I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance;"

In the Old Testament we read about the sad state of the children of Israel.  Even though the Lord brought them out of Egypt and commanded them to worship only Him, and made covenants with them, they refused to obey His commandments or keep the covenants with Him.  They worshiped other gods, served them and made sacrifices to them, refusing to listen to the Lord, who would have delivered them out of the hands of their enemies. How very sad!  The Lord can be so patient and loving with us, and bless us in so many ways.  How can we be so quick to forget Him and go our own way? 2 Kings 17:34-40 "Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: But the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice. And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods. And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods. But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.  Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner."

In some verses with a thought booklet we read the parable of the barren fig tree, in which the owner of a vineyard wanted to cut down a fig tree which had not born any fruit for three years.  But the servant suggested they leave it alone for another year and nurture it, in the hopes that it might produce fruit.  Then if it was still unfruitful, they could cut it down.  Likewise when we are unfruitful and don't live our lives in the way the Lord wants, He often gives us more time to repent and turn our lives around.  But if we continue to be unfruitful, eventually we'll perish. The Lord is longsuffering with us, but we need to repent before it's too late.  Wow, it's amazing how all three of these scripture verses today seem to all tie in together with the same message--repent now!  Luke 13:5-9 "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."