Many times from reading the scriptures I can feel the displeasure of the prophets for having to rebuke people. They don't want to but they're driven to because of how stupid and perverse the people have become. So, lets remember why its important to keep the commandments so as to not incur the chastisement and frustration of the Lord through those prophets.
These are a few blessings and reasons to keep the commandments that I can think of but certainly there are more-
Happiness in this life and never ending in the next-
"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."
-Mosiah 2:41
This scripture shows that the whole point of these commandments is to be happy and as it says in Alma 41 that "wickedness was never happiness." Well, the question is then why are so many wicked if its makes us miserable? There is a difference between Happiness and Pleasure. Satan is always counterfeiting God and gives you a substitute for the real thing and thus tempts us with idea that pleasures will make us happy. As it says in 2 Timothy of the people in the last days - "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;"
Prosperity
"And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you."
This scripture shows that the whole point of these commandments is to be happy and as it says in Alma 41 that "wickedness was never happiness." Well, the question is then why are so many wicked if its makes us miserable? There is a difference between Happiness and Pleasure. Satan is always counterfeiting God and gives you a substitute for the real thing and thus tempts us with idea that pleasures will make us happy. As it says in 2 Timothy of the people in the last days - "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;"
Prosperity
"And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you."
-Mosiah 2:22
Can you feel the apparentness of King Benjamin's tone which feels like he's saying "All you have to do is keep the commandments, is that so hard? You'll prosper! Don't you want to prosper? Then just keep the commandments, thats it!"
This blessing is not to be confused with just the material gains. The Lord has a different definition of Prosperity than just money. The Lord in his Sermon on the Mount told his disciples to consider the lilies and the sparrows and how they're taken care of, so why wouldn't God take care of them, too? Repeatedly the faithful are commanded to leave their world of comfort and possessions and to head out into the unknown, relying solely on the Lord. The rich young ruler couldn't give up his possessions to follow the Lord, but Lehi could and he was blessed. It was this confusion of materialism versus the Lord providing that caused King Noah to suppose he was righteous, because he was rich. What a grave error! "How hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of God" said the Savior. Prosperity is spiritual progress and as it said in that last scripture of the blessed state of those that keep the commandments that they're blessed both spiritual and temporal. So, the Lord takes care of you for keeping the commandments, but doesn't give you money just for money's sake, but gives you what you need.
Freedom from Sin and Hell
"And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell."
Can you feel the apparentness of King Benjamin's tone which feels like he's saying "All you have to do is keep the commandments, is that so hard? You'll prosper! Don't you want to prosper? Then just keep the commandments, thats it!"
This blessing is not to be confused with just the material gains. The Lord has a different definition of Prosperity than just money. The Lord in his Sermon on the Mount told his disciples to consider the lilies and the sparrows and how they're taken care of, so why wouldn't God take care of them, too? Repeatedly the faithful are commanded to leave their world of comfort and possessions and to head out into the unknown, relying solely on the Lord. The rich young ruler couldn't give up his possessions to follow the Lord, but Lehi could and he was blessed. It was this confusion of materialism versus the Lord providing that caused King Noah to suppose he was righteous, because he was rich. What a grave error! "How hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of God" said the Savior. Prosperity is spiritual progress and as it said in that last scripture of the blessed state of those that keep the commandments that they're blessed both spiritual and temporal. So, the Lord takes care of you for keeping the commandments, but doesn't give you money just for money's sake, but gives you what you need.
Freedom from Sin and Hell
"And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell."
-Alma 12:11
The Lord is all about freedom. Freedom to choose, freedom from death, freedom from the worldly things (materialism and pride), freedom from Satan. He said "the truth shall make you free" and it says of those that are righteous- "They are raised to dwell with God who has redeemed them; thus they have eternal life through Christ, who has broken the bands of death" (Mosiah 15:23). When we sin we serve sin and when we repent we serve God. God is the only way that we can be freed from the demands of justice that we are subject to by breaking the law or being wicked. Through Jesus Christ we can put the bonds of our sin on Him and he will pay for them so that God can be merciful and just.
All the times that we see in the Book of Mormon where the people were going down the path of sin and forgetting the source of their blessings, they fell into bondage to either the Lamanites or to just sin in general. They sought to make their pleasures their happiness and started to worship false gods which can only subject followers into chains of hell. No other god can give us freedom from our sinful nature and desires than the God of the scriptures. He molds us to have a change of heart so that we have no more have a "disposition to do evil" but to keep the commandments because our souls are freed from the devils we invite and we feel His mercy, as Enos experienced after pleading with the Lord.
Knowledge
"And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full."
The Lord is all about freedom. Freedom to choose, freedom from death, freedom from the worldly things (materialism and pride), freedom from Satan. He said "the truth shall make you free" and it says of those that are righteous- "They are raised to dwell with God who has redeemed them; thus they have eternal life through Christ, who has broken the bands of death" (Mosiah 15:23). When we sin we serve sin and when we repent we serve God. God is the only way that we can be freed from the demands of justice that we are subject to by breaking the law or being wicked. Through Jesus Christ we can put the bonds of our sin on Him and he will pay for them so that God can be merciful and just.
All the times that we see in the Book of Mormon where the people were going down the path of sin and forgetting the source of their blessings, they fell into bondage to either the Lamanites or to just sin in general. They sought to make their pleasures their happiness and started to worship false gods which can only subject followers into chains of hell. No other god can give us freedom from our sinful nature and desires than the God of the scriptures. He molds us to have a change of heart so that we have no more have a "disposition to do evil" but to keep the commandments because our souls are freed from the devils we invite and we feel His mercy, as Enos experienced after pleading with the Lord.
Knowledge
"And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full."
-Alma 12:10
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."
-Proverbs 1:7
"The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth."
-Doctrine and Covenants 93:36
"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
-Moroni 10:5
"We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker, and is caught up to dwell with him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment: he must have been instructed in the government and laws of that kingdom by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistency of the same." -Joseph Smith
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."
-Proverbs 1:7
"The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth."
-Doctrine and Covenants 93:36
"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
-Moroni 10:5
"We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker, and is caught up to dwell with him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment: he must have been instructed in the government and laws of that kingdom by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistency of the same." -Joseph Smith
