On this Independence Day, I got to thinking about several verses in the Book of Mormon that reminds the Nephites that they ought to remember the captivity of their fathers, how the Lord freed them from bondage and led them to a promised land.
I always thought about how the Nephites were supposed to remember their father Lehi, and how the Lord led him and his little family with the family of Ishmael out of Jerusalem so that they wouldn't be destroyed and led away captive like the rest of the city. The Lord led them to a promised land--to America, where they built up a whole new nation. What a great blessing.
I also thought about the Israelites, how they were in captivity by the Egyptians, and how through some mighty efforts from Moses, but finally through a miracle of the Lord in softening the heart of the Pharoah, the Pharoah let them have a few days to practice their religion, at which time they were able to escape into the wilderness, and ultimately win their freedom to live peacefully and to worship God as they so desired.
Well, if we think about it, we ALSO can remember OUR fathers, and their captivity under the tyranny of the English government, and how the Lord led them to this promised land so that we, too, could enjoy the freedom of worshipping however way we might, and to enjoy the natural human liberties that everyone should experience. How great to be numbered among those who were allowed to live on this promised land that was kept from the hands of wicked men who wanted to use it for the wrong purposes. How blessed we are, and how humbling to know that we are the lucky few, and that we could never have enjoyed these priviledges without the Lord.
God Bless America.
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