This morning, we read around the kitchen table after eating Porridge and bread for breakfast. Nourishing our bodies and then trying to nourish our underfed spirits. The children were lively, distracted and annoying. I had to stop a few times to yell at them, thus, loosing the spirit. I could have easily thrown my hands up in the air and give up reading altogether. But we were on the first chapter of 2Nep. and it was about the abundance blessings that this Promised Land, this America has for all who inherits it. Its was exciting. However, I'm determined to think that morning is THE best time to read as a family.
Nephi, through the last chapters of 1Nep. concluded those chapters with prophecies about the Messiah and other things. In the beginning of 2Nep. Nephi ends his words and then Lehi is putting in his fatherly counsel or his parting words to his children.
14. "Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth."
Here's what Lehi said about the Promised Land: (2Nephi 1: 5-12)
* A land which is choice above all other land
* A land that God covenanted to Lehi and his seed as their inheritance and all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.
* None shall come to this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord
* This land is consecrated unto those whom the Lord has brought forth unto it.
* If the people are righteous and keep God's commandments, they will prosper in this land
* Iniquity will be the downfall of this land.
After talking about the Promised Land. Lehi went on to give his final words to his children. He rejoices in Nephi and those who have chosen to be obedient and faithful. But most of his concerns were towards Laman, Lemuel and those who were rebellious and disobedient. One of my favorite verses in this reading is on v.13. "O that, ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe."
Every time I read this verse I see it as a warning to straighten up my life. Take a good look and survey what it is that I lack and the things that I need to work on with my family. To cease pursuing that which is trivial, fleeting and that rots with time.
Lehi speaks of curses and the wrath of the Almighty God. That if his children fail to keep the commandments than they will have no promise. That they will be punished with sore curses that can last up to generations after generations. He was "weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fullness of his wrath upon you..."
I'm sure at some points in our parenting stages, we fear for the safety of our children. Both physically and spiritually. I can relate to Lehi and the concerns he had for all his children. On verse 23-24 he encouraged:
"Awake, my sons; put on, the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which yea are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust...Rebel no more.."
In conclusion, Lehi urged Laman and Lemuel to listen to the words of Nephi. It's not that Nephi wants to be a leader over the or a king. It's because Nephi has remained faithful, obedient and always in tune with the will of God.
In our reading, I will not blog of every detail of every chapters. Only of things that pertains to me as a mother and a parent and that can help me in the daily struggles in this wonderful and what seems to be very short life since I'm getting old fast. LOL.
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