Today I read in 1 Nephi 17. I had a few thoughts about this chapter as I was reading it. First off, the faith of Nephi is amazing! When Heavenly Father commands it, he does it without question. Because of his knowledge of the scriptures, he takes faith in Moses and others. He knows the scriptures and has applied them to himself. I know that Nephi isn’t perfect, but his faith is a perfect pattern for us to follow.
On the flipside, Laman and Lemuel are “swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord” (1 Nephi 17:45). They are incredibly prideful. They can’t listen to their younger brother based on the principle that he is younger than they are. Rather than listen humbly when he rebukes them, they instead become severely angry to point of wanting to kill him. Don’t they realize at this point that without Nephi, they can’t get anywhere? Don’t they see that they most likely couldn’t make it back to Jerusalem if they tried? I don’t know why they continue to defy the Lord and His commandments. It’s probably the ease of the way. For them, it’s MUCH easier to just do what comes naturally rather than to love and help and support. Faith is hard, and they are not willing to pay the price to continue their faith. Sadly, they allow Satan to rule their lives rather than making a choice for themselves.
All of this truly makes me wonder how I would respond if I were in this situation. Would I give up? Would I believe that the Lord had told Nephi to build a ship in order to cross the ocean? It would be fairly hard to believe. But, hopefully, I would have faith enough or the sense enough to pray—as Nephi did—to ask Heavenly Father the truth of what was said.
2 comments:
This is SUCH a good idea! So good, in fact that I may have to steal it. We miss you in our ward, Sarah! You're so awesome! Hope you're happy in...well I'm not gonna lie, I don't know where you are, but i DO hope you're really really happy!
Sarah this is an awesome idea. I would steal it but i barely have enough time to keep my blog updated as it is! I love what you have written here. I too wonder how I would be in laman/lemuel's shoes. I'd like to think I would have the faith to see the vision and go forward. I'm POSITIVE however that the hunger, thirst, fatigue, wonder, wilderness stuff would wear me out and I'd probably utter a few complaints here. i am a big cry baby. ;)
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