"I Will Give Away All my Sins to Know Thee"

"I will give away all my sins to know thee." These are the words spoken by the father of King Lamoni to Aaron in Chapter 22 of the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon. His proper name is not given in the Book of Mormon, he is only referred to as the "father of Lamoni" or "the king". The king had been impressed by the generosity of Aaron's brother Ammon who had taught his son Lamoni the gospel. When Aaron came of the land of Nephi in the course of his own mission, the king was prepared to listen.

After Aaron had taught the king the gospel from the time of Adam to their own time, the king asked the following:

^"What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy" Alma 22:15.

Aaron answered:

"If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest."

The king's pure and earnest faith is shown in the fact that he did not wait but immediately acted on Aaron's guidance. From verses 17 and 18:

17 And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:
18 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day (Alma 22:17-18).

I have been pondering the phrase, "I will give away all my sins to know thee". This phrase confounds me. I have not yet found the way to say this and really mean it. The fact that the king really meant it is illustrated by the fact that he did indeed give up his kingdom and much else as he promised Aaron he was willing to do.

I on the other hand am probably more like the rich young man in the New Testament who asked the Lord a question similar to the one the king asked Aaron. The account is given in the book of Matthew Chapter 19 versus 16-22:

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

This young man was able to keep most of the commandments, but there was at least one that he got hung up on. In his case it was giving up his riches. I believe that many of us have similar hang ups. We probably keep most of the commandments, but there might be a few seemingly simple ones that we just won't give up.

I'm not talking about the fact that we aren't perfect and therefore need the grace of Christ in order to receive Eternal Life. It is highly doubtful that the king lived a perfect life after his conversion, but he was willing; truly willing. I want to achieve this pure willingness, for I know that only then will the atonement take full effect in my life.