Offer Your Whole Souls

Today I was reading in Omni 1:26 and Amaleki describes what is necessary for eternal life.

26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

I loved the action words, come unto Christ...partake of his salvation...offer your whole soul as an offering...continue in fasting and praying...endure to the end...

There is significant power in these words and phrases. These statements do not paint a picture of a half-hearted attempt at becoming a disciple of Christ, those who desire to be his servants must be willing to go all the way. It's all or nothing. We cannot "kind of" be disciples, we cannot "sort of" keep his commandments. We cannot be Christians on Sundays only and then spend the week doing what ever we want. The Lord requires whole souls. "Offer your whole soul as an offering". There is not much wiggle room in that statement. I think of many members and quite frankly myself many many time where I am not willing to give 100%. I look for loop holes or exceptions to certain commandments based on my circumstances. It is easy to justify almost anything, and wait for it to get easier to follow the Lord. Until then we will do "the best I can" considering my circumstances.  The truth is that the Lord requires our whole soles, all of the time. 

The other part about this commandment is that even though he requires our whole souls in order for us to be his, I am amazed at how quickly the Lord turns around and gives you back to yourself, more you than you were before. I am not sure how it is done, but by giving yourself to the Lord he makes you ... you.