Have you ever stopped to think about what your day will be like out among those who may or may not believe what you believe, and face to face with the temptations of Lucifer? When you leave your home to go to work, school, or anywhere else do you stop and think 'Am I prepared to be confronted with temptation?' Do you worry about it when you send your kids out to school, to a friends house, or any other extracurricular activity?
President Thomas S. Monson gave an address at the most recent LDS Semi Annual General Conference, in which he pointed out that we are in a war. We are waging a war against sin.
How important is it to you that you and your loved ones end up on the winning side, the righteous side of this war? Do you do all you can to prepare for battle EVERYDAY? If you were in an actual military conflict right now, would you EVER think about leaving your barracks in the morning without your bullet-proof vest? Or taking your gun? Leave your helmet at hoe today? Thinking 'Gee, I didn't use it yesterday, I probably won't need it today!' Ridiculous, right?
If we do not spiritually prepare ourselves to wage this war EACH AND EVERYDAY we are leaving our homes, minds, and spirits open to the raging forces of the enemy.
Captain Moroni, of the Book of Mormon wars in the Book of Alma, demonstrates the foresight and knowledge necessary to be victorious in waging war. When confronted with the eminent danger of advancing enemy forces, he commands his people, his leaders, his loved ones, to throw up mounds of earth around each of their remaining defensible cities. These dirt walls/mounds were so high that it would make it very difficult to completely overtake the city. They left only a narrow passageway by which they could pass in and out of the city. What a tremendous feat of determination to defend themselves against enemy forces.
But that's not all! On top of these mounds they placed tall walls of timber. So if the enemy was lucky enough to make it to the top of these dirt walls (BTW, have you ever tried to run up a mound of loose dirt? It's like running us a sand dune - not very easy or fun.) they were then greeted with the task of scaling these walls made of timber. This was all too easy in the mind of Moroni, so into these walls of timber, he instructed that openings would be left through which his armies could cast down stones, and shoot arrows at anyone trying to scale the dirt mounds .Which also meant that he needed to prepare by having piles of stones, and quivers full of arrows waiting and ready at these openings. On top of all of this, when the advancing enemy forces were in sight, he instructed that every man, woman, and child who could wield a weapon be outfitted with one, and should stand with the army at the narrow opening of the city wall. So basically if the enemy had any sort of chance, they would essentially have to advance through the gate of the city maybe 5-10 people wide - a very manageable number of enemies to handle rather than being rushed by 1000s. Here's the real clincher, Moroni knew that they were greatly outnumbered, so by doing all of this, he made it possible for a small army to hold of the enemy and retain possession of huge cities, and to even defeat the enemy forces SEVERELY.
Now, do we even do half of what Moroni did to defend our homes, hearts, minds, and spirits from the onslaught of the advancing forces of temptation and wickedness? Maybe we should give daily prayer, scripture study, and personal daily preparation a second thought.
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