Helaman 13:22

 

Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which He has blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches, not to thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your hearts are not drawn out to the Lord, but they do swell with great pride unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquity.

I love how this verse seems to capture such a human challenge: God blesses us with everything we have and yet, it is so easy to forget Him when we think of what we have. This (at least for me) common way of thinking is a real trap as it leads to twisted outcomes. Our preoccupations with the riches we have (whatever they may be – family, skills, possessions, etc.) when we do not remember God and thank Him for them become a platform for pride, envy, strife. They are all we think about, primarily in negative terms, and they can never fill the place in our lives that we hope they will be.

The key antidote is that phrase right in the middle of the verse that I love – having our hearts drawn out to God. I love the idea of drawing out our hearts to God. It makes me think of a town that brings out its best to honor the champion that protects their town. In drawing out our hearts to God, we are acknowledging how richly God blesses us which changes us, our relationship to God, and our relationship to our riches. They become consecrated, holy, and can really achieve the end for which God gave them to us.



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