Alma - Chapter 21

It had to have been more fun to be Ammon, than Aaron on this mission, at least at first.  Was Ammon more worthy than Aaron to have been so blessed?  That's the way we tend to look at things in the world.  We, like Job's buddies tend to think folks deserve their afflictions.  The reverse of that is that we tend to think folks deserve their blessings and prosperity.  While God generally rewards righteousness with prosperity, I don't think it is safe to assume that those whose circumstances don't prosper are necessarily less righteous, or that those who prosper and have the way opened for them are more so.

We hear someone stand in fast and testimony meeting and boast of the wonderful blessing of healing they've experienced, while another sits quietly in the congregation mourning the loss of a righteous spouse who wasn't so blessed.  When we boast of such blessings, it's as though we claim to have deserved them, perhaps implying that someone else did not.  I hope we can take a lesson from Aaron and rejoice in the success of others.  I also hope we can take a lesson from Ammon, who shared his good fortune with those for whom things didn't turn out so well.  Blessings come from God at His pleasure and for His divine purposes.  They don't come because we deserve them.  King Benjamin made it plain that we are unprofitable servants discounting any merit we might claim as reason for God's favor.  Our blessings come as a result of Christ's merits and mercy, not our own.  This is not to say that we should relax our efforts to serve the Lord, its just that as fine as our efforts may be, they still fall short of the glory of God.