“Wo” refers to grief, sorrow, misery, or great calamity. Therefore, when the Lord issues a categorical “wo,” it is indeed a great warning of what will happen if we do not heed His words. If we spurn His doings—disdainfully reject and treat contemptuously His works—we will surely incur punishment as described above. We are not to deny the revelations of the Lord or the demonstration in any measure of His great power and miracles. If we do, we will be like unto a son of perdition. There are over thirty-eight listings of “wo” in the Book of Mormon. There are eight warnings alone in Jacob’s address concerning the Atonement (see 2 Nephi 9). Why does the Lord issue warnings? Because He loves us and wants us to understand the severity of the consequences of sin and the importance of keeping the commandments so that He can protect us. Warnings are like flashing lights of danger. Let us beware lest the judgments of God come upon us. It is a loving Father who reminds us how we can stay on the strait and narrow path. Do we treat casually the word and work of the Lord and His kingdom? Do we heed the warnings and so we are thus protected through obedience?