Alma 36 : 1 -30

This chapter is so beautiful. I love its literary form. I learned from the Institute manual that the name of this literary form Alma used here is "Chiasmus, called an inverted parallelism, is a Hebrew literary form where words or ideas are arranged in a certain order and then repeated in reverse order. This repetition emphasizes important ideas and words. In addition, the writer's main idea is often located at the center of the chiasmus."

I'm facing another trial as I keep up with this blog. My little netbook (Aspire One) has been acting up since early this morning. So I've already restarted this machine a million times. It's dropping and dropping after just a few minutes. I'm glad my draft is being saved here. Well, the very first paragraph I wrote was not saved so I did it all over again. Looks like somebody is working hard against me. But I'll keep going. Nothing can stop me. I'm determined to keep this up.

In verse 30 we read: "But behold, my son, this is not all; for ye ought to know as I do know, that ^ainasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall ^bprosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence. Now this is according to his word."

The Institute Manual explained this verse this way: "Alma referred to a recurring theme in the Book of Mormon of prospering in the land. Alma 36: 30 gives contextual meaning to that phrase. It is not necessarily intended that all inhabitants will become materially rich in this life. Rather, there is a spiritual meaning to the word prosper. This verse teaches us that if we do not "keep the commandments of God," then we shall not prosper but be "cut off from his presence." Therefore, those who prosper in the land are those who are successful in obtaining the spiritual blessings of being close to the Lord. They are on a track that will lead to entering the Lord's presence."

There we go. The word prosper doesn't necessarily mean being rich in material possessions. We prosper when we are enjoying the spiritual blessings of having a close relationship with the Lord. That is spiritual abundance. We neither thirst or hunger spiritually. There's nothing wrong with seeking to prosper in terms of material possessions as long as we are keeping our close relationship with the One who is providing us all our blessings--both temporal and spiritual.