Spiritual laziness

     For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance (in other words change) until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in eternal world. Alma 34:32-34
     As usual, you can read something, especially scripture, and get something different from it every time- if that's what you're endeavoring to do. (Just as listening and having something go in one ear and out the other as the saying goes, you can read and let it just go by.) Reading this scripture, I have been considering one of the aspects of difference between individuals. We know our spirits existed before being placed in our mortal bodies and there were characteristics about those spirits which we brought with us. For instance: Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose. (First Presidency Proclamation on the Family) Anyone who has ever raised children or closely witnessed the development of children knows without a doubt that everyone has their own characteristics, some of which change through mortal years and some of which may strengthen through mortal years- depending on the choices we each make. I recently read something that helped me to understand some differences in individuals.
     "When we talk about our relationship to the Savior and our redemption we must begin with the pre-mortal life. I think we often miss the real issue of the contention in the spirit world that eventually led to the war in heaven. We talk about it as though Lucifer were going to force everybody to obey. Most people don't want to be forced. As I see it, the real issue is that Lucifer would guarantee their salvation. He promised salvation without effort, without excellence, without hard work, without individual responsibility. That's the lie that he promulgated in the pre-earth councils. That so-called shortcut to salvation captivated many gullible and lazy spirits. They wanted something for nothing. We have certain aspects in our life today where things are awkward. Something for nothing- a free lunch, we sometimes call it- with certain kinds of subsidies which promise to guarantee a reward without effort. On that basis Lucifer led away many spirits." (Robert J. Matthews "The Price of Redemption" - 11th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium- New Testament, Jan. 29, 1983)
     Aha! We too often think of laziness as being a strictly mortal issue referring to willingness or aversion to physical effort. It can also be a spiritual characteristic and will remain with us so long as we choose to hoard and nurture it. It is common for people to decry the "award for participation" which has come to mean no real award at all. If everyone gets the award, it doesn't signify anything special about anyone. On the other hand, it is also common for people to say things like, "Why can't you just accept (reward?) me as I am?" (currently, without effort on my part to improve....) As Amulek tells us in the book of Alma, this life is the time for us to decide- by observation of consequences and the actions of those around us- to stay the way we are or repent, change and improve. There is absolutely no point in thinking that we will magically be willing to sacrifice, serve, and work like Jesus did once we are out of our mortal bodies or into a resurrected body. Inside we will still be the same person, lazy, rebellious, or whatever we are sincerely striving to be. It would certainly behoove us to ponder the wisdom of changing (repenting) NOW! (And remember- you can always ask for help- but you will only get it if you want it.)