Epiphany

A while back Ryan and I attended our Sunday School class at church and I was lucky enough to have one of those "Ah hah!" moments. The lesson was on the Plan of Happiness and talked a lot about The Restoration. This new found piece of information has been stuck in my mind ever since then and I decided I would blog about it to have it in ink so I don't forget it. And perhaps maybe it'll be able to give someone else that "ah hah" moment.

We were reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 41. The moment of my epiphany came when we read verses 12-13. Those verses read:

12 - And now behold, is the meaning of the work restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?

13 - O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish - good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful. 

Ryan leaned over to me and said "Makes you realize the importance of being good doesn't it?" Then it clicked and I FINALLY truly understood the meaning of the word restoration. It is to restore something to its original form/condition. 

Those who know me well know that I am a HUGE car nut. (this is relevant, I promise) I LOVE cars; a classic muscle car will get me every time. I immediately thought of restoring a car and how, when you restore a car, you bring it back to its original glory. 

Ok, so maybe that wasn't the most relevant example I could have used...but that's what came to mind right after reading those scriptures. Ryan's comment made me realize that yes, it is extremely important to be good in this life so that we are restored to our "natural" good state when the restoration happens. 

You can't be bad and make bad choices all your life and expect to be restored to a good and righteous state. You have to work for what you want and I know I want to be able to be lifted up in the Second Coming as a righteous being in my best state. 

Ok, so there's my "ah hah" moment and my first "churchy" post. Hopefully it makes sense and hopefully I didn't make a mistake anywhere when it comes to quoting the scriptures.