Spiritual Thought: Give away all my sins

My current scripture study has me in Alma, in one of my favorites stories about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. Some of my favorite verses are Alma 22 verse 15 "...Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy" and verse 18 "...I will give away all my sins to know thee..."

In this story, the people had been a fearsome people eager for war. When they become converted, they bury their weapons deep in the ground so they no longer have the temptation to fight. Nothing is more important to them than the Gospel and keeping their covenants with the Lord.

Those few lines cause me great reflection. What are the things that I should be giving up or forsaking to reach the joy of the Lord? Am I willing to give away all my sins? Am I willing to bury them so deep they will never tempt me again?

The Anti-Nehi-Lehies made this grand gesture once and here we are talking about it centuries later. But I don't think these questions apply only to grand, historically-significant moments. I think we can ask ourselves each day what things we are holding on to that we can give up to know our Savior better. May we all be willing to give all that we possess to know Him and feel of his joy.