Eric Poulin

1 Nephi 17 33-38
“And now, do ye suppose that the children of this land, who were in the land of promise, who were driven out by our fathers, do ye suppose that they were righteous Behold, I say unto you, Nay.
Do ye suppose that our fathers would have been more choice than they if they had been righteous I say unto you, Nay.
Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God. But behold, this people had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity; and the fullness of the wrath of God was upon them; and the Lord did curse the land against them, and bless it unto our fathers; yea, he did curse it against them unto their destruction, and he did bless it unto our fathers unto their obtaining power over it.
Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.
And he raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked.
And he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes.”

Lest we, as a people, become prideful we need to be reminded that were are not chosen because of bloodline, membership in an organization or any other similar reason. We are chosen only because of our righteousness. The blessings of the Lord are available to all. We cannot expect to join the Lord’s church and then coast through life with His blessing. We need to be righteous, always trying to improve, overcoming our weaknesses. The Lord will bless us for our righteousness only. We’ll receive our “precious land” because of our obedience. Otherwise we face the curse of the land, for our own sakes.

That also means our business competitors can be equally blessed according to their righteousness. There’s lots of good people out there to compete with, so make sure you’re obedience, or lack thereof, is not holding you back from success. Afterall, if your competitors are righteous, they are also chosen and able to receive the Lord’s blessings.