1 Nephi 2

Thursday, June 20, 2013


As verse 1 tells us, sometimes the Lord speaks to us in dreams. I've had this happen once or twice and I began to wonder why. In a brief conversation with a returned missionary, we were able to conclude that perhaps this is because it is one of the few times in our lives where we are not distracted by worldly events. One of the other things with dreams is we can sometimes receive a divine gift by this. I've also had that happen before. The night going into Valentine's Day, I had a dream that I saw my Opa again. He was standing there smiling and he seemed truly happy. He was not sick or hurting, just very happy. He was also looking at me as though he could see me. I was overjoyed to get to see him again. 
Lehi has always been one that has displayed great faith in the lord. The Lord, as He promised in 1 Nephi 1:20, protected Lehi because he was faithful, by telling Lehi in a dream that he needed to leave Jerusalem. And we find in verse 3, Lehi obeyed. 
When Lehi left for the wilderness, he took nothing with him save his family and a few necessities. Lehi left behind his wealth, house, and land. I think it would take a ton of faith and trust to leave behind all of your possessions. Lehi pretty much lost all that he gained in his life, materialistically at least. And yet he still trusted the Lord entirely. 
In verse 7, we find that even after losing so much, Lehi still gave thanks to the Lord. Honestly, I think I would probably have been pretty upset if I were asked to just give up everything I own and then journey into the wilderness. This also shows us that Lehi is not a selfish person at all. Lehi was a very wealthy man who had a lot of possessions, so we can assume that he lived in great comfort. When he left his house we find that in both verse 7 and it is stated in verse 15 that Lehi dwelled in a tent (which is quite a step down from living in a luxurious house). But he still trusted the Lord and did all the Lord asked him to. 
I think Laman and Lemuel demonstrate how we as people, in general, are. They did not trust or really believe in the Lord. And they were also absorbed in material items. As Laman and Lemuel  did, people sometimes say that the Lord is not real, and seek to convince us of this (verse 11). But you must stand firm in your beliefs and hold onto what you know to be true. This is why you need a personal testimony, so that when this happens, you have something to hold onto. Trust what you know, not what others tell you. If someone ever tells you something that is questionable, you can always look to your scriptures, or you can pray and ask Heavenly Father concerning the validity of the statement. Heavenly Father is always willing to help us. 
Something to also remember is that when we testify to people, they will know by the power of the Holy Spirit that the words which we speak are true (verses 14 and 17). I think we can also use this when people are telling us something that is spiritually related. I think when they speak the truth, we can know by the power of the Holy Spirit whether it is true or not. 
In verse 16, Nephi prayed and told the Lord that he wanted to know the mysteries of the Lord, so Nephi wanted to know more about the Lord and he wanted to gain a better understanding of the ways of the Lord. While the Lord may not actually visit us like He visited Nephi, we will know in our hearts, by the power of the Spirit, what is true. 
The final thing I'd like to draw attention to is something I know from experience and that is when we harden our hearts against the Lord, He cannot help us. This is because we have been given the gift of agency, which allows us to make our own decisions, so we are entirely independent of the Lord. It is also something the Lord will never interfere with. He will not make decisions for us. With that being said, we need to be wise and careful when making decisions.