Mosiah 4:30

Mosiah 4:30
But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

Sonnet 495 Reflections on Mosiah 4:30

Some principles have proxies in the writ
Alternative or stand-in words that point
To something more important than the bit
Of meaning that the words themselves anoint.

To show it, here’s a test you ought to try
Replace a word with something else and see
If meanings are unlocked when you apply
The proxy to the passage as a key.

Now where you read “remember” say “repent”
Then think if that expands the verse’s aim
And next, see if it adds to what is meant
If you give “watch yourselves” the same new name.

First principles are rife with proxy friends
The scripture student’s magnifying lens.