All These Things Shall be Added Unto You

I was reading today in Ether 12 and started reading chapter 13. In verse 20, the prophet Ether comes to talk with Coriantumr, the king at the time. Ether prophesies to him, telling him that if he will repent, God will give unto him the whole kingdom and spare the people. This was the desire of Coriantumr! He wanted the kingdom, but he rejects the prophecy and tries to kill Ether. It's sad, because in the end Coriantumr loses the kingdom, and all the Jaredites (his people) are destroyed. He sees the fulfillment of prophecy, in the worst possible way, but the sad thing is that he could have had the kingdom, and the kingdom was precisely the desire of his heart.

But why did he reject the prophecy? He didn't believe, and he had to be forced to see the bad result of the prophecy to finally believe and to try to repent. But by that time it was too late. The grace had already passed.

There's a scripture in Matt 6:33 and in 3 Nephi 13:33 that reads, seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. That was so true in the case of Coriantumr. If he had only sought God first, he would've had the kingdom, he would have had happiness, he would have had eternal life. But now he has nothing.

The same is true my own life, and I think of its application to two things in particular: one is exam MLC. Studying for the exam is really stressing me out, but I know that as I seek first for the kingdom of God, this exam will be added unto me. Another thing is marriage and love. I need to seek first the kingdom of God, and then that rich and sweet blessing will be mine in the Lord's own due time. And that it will be better, so much better, than of if I had just sought for these things by myself, by the strength of my own hand as did Coriantumr.

In the end, we choose. With God, we can obtain the sweetest desires of our heart, but it has to be through God's way. If we do not choose to follow God, we may or may not obtain by the strength of our own arm;but in the end, if we do not obtain through Christ, it will come to an end.