1 Nephi 17
Chapter 17
Nephi is commanded to build a ship—His brethren oppose him—He exhorts them by recounting the history of God’s dealings with Israel—Nephi is filled with the power of God—His brethren are forbidden to touch him, lest they wither as a dried reed. About 592–591 B.C.
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The first two verses always get me! The women gave birth to kids in the wilderness, ate raw meat, and were strong like men.
Wow.
I won't complain anymore that my epidural wore off in the middle of labor, that I eat frozen ice cream, and am strong like my 8 year old.
Verse 3 is one of the "And thus we see" verses. I love them because they get to the bottom line: and thus we see that when people keep the commandments they are blessed.
This chapter is also significant because here is where Nephi is the one that starts to receive inspiration from the Lord and lead the family. His father taught him well, and he is ready to take the reigns.
Verse 13: "I will be your light in the wilderness." The Lord is my light in all things. There are times when it's hard to see- and knowing that the Lord can shed light on things brings me peace, hope and joy.
Verse 30 Nephi reminds his brothers that the Lord was also the light to the Israelites in their journey, too.
I LOVE verse 41: ...and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished. Nephi was speaking of the Israelites. All they had to do was look- and they still didn't. Living the gospel may not be terribly easy, but it sure is simple. And yet many don't do it. They complicate their salvation with sin, justification, temptation, guilt and excuses. Just Look!
This chapter is so full of wonderful things- but I think I'll stop here this time.
What did you think/learn today?
There is a lot of great stuff in this chapter. But the thing that got to me this morning was that through it all Nephi just kept on going. He didn't give up on God, even when he got discouraged. He held strong to his faith, testimony and lessons learned from history.
ReplyDeleteSometimes we are called to be in a position that we struggle with (I don't mean a calling at church- just life). It's hard to even get out of bed in the morning because we already know what we are going to be facing that day. When Nephi got up that morning, the Lord said... get to the mountain. So Nephi went. He didn't know he was going to have to climb the mountain when he went to bed the night before. But I am sure he prayed and asked the Lord for guidance.
When I already know I have to get up and face my mountain, it is harder. However, if I am obedient, and just go, the Lord is always there to kick my slow, plodding, whining self into a higher gear so I can make it.
Laman and Lemuel wanted to follow the ways of the world, wishing for the "things" and comfort they left behind not acknowledging the blessings the had received.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed to me that the "stuff" was more important to them than anything spiritual.
Nephi is such great example of faith and obedience. We will be strengthened, comforted and directed in our trials, if we are obedient.
I like in verse 35 how it says "he that is righteous is favored of God." And also in verse 40 "And he loveth those who will have him to be their God."
ReplyDeleteThe strongest message to me in this chapter is that if we obey the commandments, we will be blessed. Doesn't mean we won't have challenges, but we will still be strengthed by God. So lets obey.
The last verse struck me too. Nephi reminded me of Jesus Christ. His brothers wanted to worship him after they saw he had the power of God, but Nephi wouldn't let them and told them to worship God. Just as Jesus Christ in the pre-existence told Heavenly Father that the glory would be to him, unlike Satan who wanted all the glory for himself. The scripture "ye shall know them by their fruits" comes to mind. If only all people could be like Nephi.