1 Nephi 1

Thursday, June 20, 2013


In verse 4, we learn that repentance is a necessity. Heavenly Father through the grace of His Son, Jesus Christ, has given us a way so that we may repent for our sins. Something to remember is that no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God. The really cool thing is once we repent for our sins, Heavenly Father promises us that those sins will be forgotten. One thing to remember about the repentance process that when we repent, we are making a promise to both Heavenly Father and ourselves that we will try not to commit that sin again. If we continually commit the same sin, it means we have not really repented for what we did wrong. We must put forth the effort to not make the same mistake again and again. 
Through prayer and faith, we know that the Book of Mormon is true. With that being said, sometimes it is difficult to hold on to the testimony we each individually have gained. When we feel like our own testimony is weakening, we can rely on another's testimony to get us through that rough time. We can use the vision Lehi had (in verse 8) to strengthen our testimony with his testimony; we can help ourselves remember that God is real and will help us. One thing you can do is count the blessings you have. By doing this, you can see all the good things God has done for you. Something else to remember, though, is that when you draw strength for a time from another's testimony, you can never completely rely on theirs. A testimony is personal and it is something you need to develop on your own. Prayer is a great way to do this, as is daily study of the scriptures. 
Like what happened to Lehi in verse 12, when we do things that the Lord tells us to or that pleases Him, we allow ourselves to draw closer to our Heavenly Father, which enables us to also have a stronger relationship with the Spirit. Heavenly Father encourages us to read scriptures daily. By doing so, we develop a stronger relationship with both Him and the Spirit. 
The coming of the Messiah is also mentioned in this chapter. Christ came to save us of our sins. This allows us to be forgiven for the mistakes we make. This also supports what verse 14 says about the Lord being merciful. 
The last verse I'd like to point out is verse 20 which says "the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." This verse tells us that the Lord shall protect all who are faithful unto Him. So when we have even just a little bit of faith in the Lord, He will help us and protect us in our time of need.