The contrast between Enos' message about his own search for God and the message being preached among his contemporaries could not be more striking. He has been in a personal quest to find God, penetrate the veil and view things of all eternity. His people, however, are warned with harshness about the risks of destruction that hang over them. It is worth pausing to consider this contrast and what it implies for us.
Are men worthy to hear the higher things of eternity when they are stiffnecked and unwilling to comprehend? Enos' personal journey was motivated by the highest purposes. In contrast, this harsh warning to his peers sought only to preserve basic social order. The message is adapted to the needs of the audience. If the message from prophets is adapted to a disobedient and hardhearted people, then perhaps it is time to consider Enos' more positive example and message.
Enos juxtaposes the general wickedness of his time with his personal journey back to God's presence. The sinfulness of people around him did not affect his personal journey. He may have been the only one living at the time ready to penetrate the veil. We know nothing of the personal journeys of the "exceeding many prophets" who were crying for people to repent. Enos tells us nothing about them. But the societal failings which threatened to bring the Nephites to "speedy destruction" did not impair Enos' return to God. Of all the lessons left us by Enos, this is the most relevant. None of us is absolutely captive by our times. We are all free to receive everything God offers. It does not matter if your teachers, your friends, or your culture all fail to live up to the conditions which allow God to reveal Himself to them. Each one of us is still free to walk the path back to the presence of God, just as Enos did.
For the larger Nephite society the message was direct. It relied upon fear to motivate behavior. The prophets were "continually reminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God." This reliance upon fear of death and judgment by God may curtail gross misbehavior, but it never exalts. Contrast this with what motivated Enos. He contemplated "the words which [he] had often heard [his] father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints," which "sunk deep into [his] heart." (V. 3.) As he pondered on these positive and hopeful things, his "soul hungered." Order can often be imposed by using fear, but exaltation springs from love. What motivates you?