You
can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/4?lang=eng
I’m
not sure that there’s a more powerful or speedy response by a people to its
spiritual leader in recorded scripture than that of the Nephites under King
Benjamin in this chapter. We had seen earlier that the people instinctively
responded to Benjamin, but it’s one thing to come to hear the leader speak for
a day or two, quite another to make a deep commitment to follow his teachings
for the rest of your life.
We
get this great show of humility by the Nephites as they fall to the earth after
hearing Benjamin share the words from an angel about the absolute necessity of
following the gospel of Jesus Christ (verse 1). It seems the people are truly
struck by the reality that their choices have consequences, and they want to
make the right choices.
Usually,
we conceive of repentance as something very personal and private between a
single person and the Lord, but here we see that it can also happen in a more
communal setting. Presumably many of those gathered had already entered into
covenants through baptism, but we in our day can appreciate that recommitment
to earlier covenants is critical in dealing with the challenges we constantly
face in mortality.
As
they recommit, the people are filled with joy and feel peace of conscience. Of
course, this assurance in our beliefs is so important in helping us take those
next steps along the pathway of faith and righteousness.
At
this point, King Benjamin senses that the people are in such a humble and
receptive place that he can teach them boldly about things that are critical
for them to embrace if they would follow in the footsteps of the Father and the
as-yet unborn Jesus. These things include:
- Key qualities that God has (goodness, matchless power, wisdom, patience, long-suffering) and that we need to have for salvation (trust in the Lord, diligence in keeping His commandments, and continuing in faith throughout mortal life) (verse 6).
- Reiterating what the angel told him to relate (in chapter 3) about Christ’s atonement for our sins being the only way to salvation, and our need to repent and sincerely seek God’s forgiveness (verses 7-10).
- Retaining a remission of sins through daily, steadfast prayer and action (verses 11-12). This echoes the “doctrine of Christ” Nephi previously shared more than 400 years before (in 2 Nephi 31:20-21) and that is found in the record Benjamin has kept throughout his life.
- Caring for our children temporally and spiritually, which involves helping direct them away from the devil’s ways of contention and disobedience, and toward the Lord’s ways of love, service and “truth and soberness” (verses 14-15).
- Finding ways to help the needy in our world, rather than finding ways not to help them or to condemn them, under the rationale that we all are ultimately beggars at the feet of God for what we need in life and to reunite ourselves with him despite our tendencies to sin.
Lest
Benjamin’s people find themselves overwhelmed by the number of responsibilities
he lays at their feet, he leaves them with two guiding principles. They can be
summed up as (1) pace yourself and (2) watch yourself. None of us can do
everything. One of our Apostles, Elder Neal A. Maxwell, wrote one time (citing author Anne Morrow Lindbergh) that he
simply did not have the time or capacity to reach out to everyone to whom his
heart responded.
We
too must determine those things that are centrally important to accomplish, and
recognize that we can only help a little at a time. We can hopefully learn how
our actions can inspire others to help a broader circle of people, so that
through the ripple effect of our influence we might be able to help more people
than we can simply from a time- and energy-limited standpoint. Verse 27 says,
“And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not
requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.”
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