41 And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen.
(Ether 12:41)
At the end of this chapter, after describing Ether’s missionary zeal and telling us that the people rejected his message, after teaching us the importance of faith and hope, and after expressing his concern that we would reject his message, Moroni gives us his final plea. Notice how closely the last verse in this chapter mirrors the final words of an epistle his father had written to him:
| Ether 12:41 | |
| And now, | |
| I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, |
may Christ lift thee up, and may…the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever. |
| that the grace of God the Father, | And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, |
| and also the Lord Jesus Christ, | and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, |
| and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, |
|
| may be and abide in you forever. | be, and abide with you forever. |
| Amen. | Amen. |
Moroni’s hope for us is the same as his father’s hope for him: that we may come unto Christ and receive the grace which comes from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, today and always. I like the phrase “be and abide” at the end of both verses. Mormon and Moroni hope that we will receive God’s grace right now (“be”) and that we will retain it in the future (“abide”).
One of the definitions of abide in the Oxford English Dictionary is to “continue without fading or being lost.” I know from experience that the memory of spiritual experiences can fade over time. Even though I may recall the event itself, I can only retain the feelings associated with it if I continue to take the actions which invited the grace of God into my heart.
Today, I will follow Moroni’s admonition to seek Jesus so that God’s grace may be in me now and may abide in me over time. I will seek Him through scripture study, sincere prayer, and focusing my thoughts on “the hope of his glory and of eternal life.”
Book of Mormon Study Notes 