Captain Moroni

I have been reading about Captain Moroni.  He is introduced to us in Alma 43:16, and then in verse 17, it tells us that he was only twenty-five years old when he was appointed chief captain over the Nephite army.  He was young for all that responsibility, but he was most assuredly up to the challenge.  We all remember the often quoted Alma 48:17 about the good captain:

"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

He was without a doubt an amazing man.  A righteous man.  He was a man that knew the importance of liberty.  In Alma 44:5, Moroni is speaking to the leader of the army of Lamanites that he is contending with at the time.  The Nephites have surrounded the Lamanites and wish to let them depart in peace.  Moroni is telling Zerahemnah why the Nephites fight and commanding him to lay down his weapons and promise not to come to battle against the Lamanites again.  He says:

"And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, by our faith, by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us--"

I feel a kindling of hope when I read that scripture that I too might overcome those things, those vices or sins that attempt to steal my liberty away.  I can rely on that all-powerful God, who can strengthen my arm, and I can rely on my faith in that sacred word of God to which I owe all my happiness.

The scriptures refer to sins often as chains that drag us down, and this morning I am longing to be free from that weight.  I have learned so much about the gospel this past five years.  I have been on a steep learning curve, but I still struggle to put it all into practice.  I can know it, but sometimes the doing eludes me.  I hope I can be more aware of my liberty and defend it with the vigor that Moroni defends the Nephite nation.