🌿 The “Pleasing Bar” — What Judgment Day Really Means

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The “Pleasing Bar” — What Judgment Day Really Means

Sometimes a single word in scripture can knock you flat in the best way. For me, it’s Moroni’s farewell line in the Book of Mormon:

“I soon go to rest in the paradise of God… and I am brought forth triumphant through the air to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead.”

— Moroni 10:34

⚡ Pleasing. He didn’t say terrifying. He didn’t say dreadful. He said pleasing.

Most of us don’t picture Judgment Day that way. We imagine a courtroom scene—nervous, exposed, waiting for the verdict. But Moroni saw something entirely different. And interestingly, Elder David A. Bednar gave a talk that touched on this very idea: that Judgment Day can and should be anticipated with hopeful joy for the faithful.

On the doctrinal foundation, I actually agree with him wholeheartedly. Where we diverge is the application. He roots the preparation mostly inside the institutional church framework, while I root it inside a direct, covenantal walk with Jesus Christ Himself. 🕊️

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1. God’s Risk: He Gave Us Agency

Before this world began, our Heavenly Parents’ plan hinged on one daring gift: moral agency—the ability to act and not be acted upon (2 Nephi 2:26).

“In the garden of Eden gave I unto man his agency.”

— Moses 7:32 (JST)

Agency is how we learn to love God and love each other—the two greatest commandments (Matt. 22:37–39).

The Nemenhah echo this beautifully:

“Behold, these thy brethren, they are the workmanship of mine own hands… that they should love one another, and that they should choose me their Father.”

— Book of the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn, Ch. 1

Heaven didn’t create robots. It created children with the power to choose light. 🌿

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2. Lucifer’s Rebellion Was Against Agency

Lucifer’s rebellion wasn’t just a political coup; it was a war against this very gift.

“Because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, I caused that he should be cast down.”

— Moses 4:3

He wanted a kingdom of objects, not agents. Christ stood and said, “Father, thy will be done.” He defended the risk and became the Redeemer so that our wrong choices could be healed through His mercy. 🙏

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3. Judgment Is About WHO We Become

The scriptures are plain:

“If their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy… they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God.”

— 1 Nephi 15:33

“He that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still.”

— Mormon 9:14

Judgment isn’t a math problem tallying good vs. bad deeds. It’s a mirror 🪞 revealing what we’ve become through our desires, choices, and walk with the Peacemaker.

The Nemenhah testify similarly:

“If they seek not the Haymehnay to confirm in them all things, then what use have they of much intelligence of how things really are?”

— Book of Mohrhohnahyah, Ch. 8:52

No bishop, no prophet, no Church program will judge us that day. We will know. Our souls will resonate with light or shrink from it.

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4. The “Fear” of the Lord = Truth About Ourselves

The “fear of the Lord” is not God looming over us with a gavel. It’s the moment we finally see ourselves as we truly are—without masks, without excuses.

For the repentant, that moment is pure joy. For the proud, it’s dread.

Enos said it perfectly:

“Then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed; there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father.”

— Enos 1:27

Judgment Day will either be a family reunion… or a rude awakening.

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5. Restoration Is Perfectly Just

Alma taught:

“The meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil… good for that which is good… merciful for that which is merciful.”

— Alma 41:13–15

The Nemenhah affirm this:

“Deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually… and ye shall have mercy restored unto you again… justice restored… righteous judgment restored.”

— Book of Mohrhohnahyah, Ch. 15

God restores what we’ve sown. Mercy to the merciful. Righteousness to the righteous. Darkness to those who choose it. Perfect justice. Perfect mercy.

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6. Not About “Staying in the Boat” — About Knowing the Captain

Here’s where modern LDS framing often drifts. Talks like Bednar’s conclude with “stay in the boat,” “follow the Brethren,” and “keep the commandments.”

But Judgment isn’t about membership. It’s about relationship.

“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord… and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.”

— Matthew 7:22–23

I’ve said it before: Don’t follow the white robe (Lehi’s dream). Follow the Voice. 🕊️

If you know Him—if you’ve repented, been born again, received the Holy Ghost, and walked His path personally—then that bar will indeed be pleasing.

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7. My Witness

Judgment Day isn’t meant to terrify the faithful. It’s meant to inspire us to become like the Peacemaker now.

“Begin to believe in the Son of God… that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins, and that he shall rise again… that all men shall stand before him to be judged.”

— Alma 33:22

Elder Bednar was right to point us to hope in that day. I just believe the path runs deeper than institutional loyalty. It runs through personal covenant with Christ—the kind that changes the soul.

Moroni wasn’t special. He was prepared. So can we be.

His mercy is real. His arms are stretched out still. If we yield our hearts to Him—not to an institution, but to Him—then that day will not terrify us.

It will thrill us. ✨

🕊️ In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.