From Kings to Servants of Kings

After Paul had received his life-changing vision from the Lord, Ananias was told to go to him.  Upon expressing his fear of this man who had done so much to persecute the Saints, the Lord said, “He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:15).  With the exception of the mention of going to the Gentiles, that description could apply also to Ammon and Aaron in the Book of Mormon.  They had a similar vision that altered their destructive course and turned them into lifelong missionaries.  Just as Saul gave up great power in Jerusalem in order to become a missionary (for he had obviously had a position of prominence among the Jews), so too did these two sons of Mosiah give up the chance to be king of the Nephite people.  Instead they choose to bear the name of the Lord, and in particular they were called to do that before “kings” just like Paul did.  Ammon went before King Lamoni and Aaron went before the king of all the Lamanites, and both testified of the Savior before them.  The prediction concerning Paul that he would suffer “great things” surely applied to the sons of Mosiah as well, of whom we read that they “had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much labor in the spirit” (Alma 17:5).  As we think about their lives of service, we are left to ask ourselves which kind of life we would choose if given the same choice: to be kings with servants or to be servants preaching Christ to kings amidst great persecutions.