2 Nephi

This time it was my fault. I fell out of routine. So annoying when I do that. But I am determined to get on track and be diligent. This is pretty typical for me. Usually once I finish 1 Nephi I start to fizzle out a little, not sure why, but I do.

I love the first chapter of 2 Nephi. I think it is easy to feel the emotion of Lehi as he speaks to his children knowing that he will soon die. When I read his words I feel I he feels glory in knowing he has lived a good life(verse 15, "...the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.", but he also feels sorrow or maybe torment for the lives of his rebellious sons(verse 17,"My heart hath been 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 fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever; 18-Or, that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil". So I think if my parents said those things to me I would feel a little freaked out, but I wonder if they ever felt that strongly for my salvation. I wasn't quite so rebellious as Laman and Lemuel so I am thinking maybe they didn't worry as strongly, but I do still think they worry for the smaller things in my life and that of my sisters. I can understand that feeling a little, although my children are young, I still feel the panic or sorrow when I see them making decisions that I know will result in sadness. I hate watching it. Sometimes I intervene too much, but sometimes I allow it to happen because I know they need to have experiences to learn, but it doesn't make watching it any easier. I can't imagine what would be felt if I knew I was dying and soon to be gone.

Verse 23 is a great one, he says, "Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust." I think the words are powerful. It is like he is literally shaking them awake with his words. I think it is amazing when I see that people have the ability to find the right words and put them together to create something powerful with such great feeling. It is my weakness, but I am happy to read and hear from others that have the gift. I think Lehi has that gift from the Lord, crazy that it didn't work so well on Laman and Lemuel.

Following this verse Lehi speaks of Nephi and how righteous he has been. I totally would love to be as Nephi to know that I have lived in a way to make my parents that proud and happy. To give that sort of relief and also to know that I have lived well.

So question time, in verse 28 and 29 Lehi speaks of his "first blessing" "And now my son, Laman and also Lemuel and Sam, and also my sons who are the sons of Ishmael, behold, if ye will hearken unto the voice of Nephi ye shall not perish. And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a blessing, yea, even my first blessing. But if ye will not hearken unto him I take away my first blessing, yea, even my blessing, and it shall rest upon him." I think it shows that it is the Birthright maybe, but what exactly does that mean? And does he give that to all the sons, I was thinking that the birthright was just something that went to the oldest child.

At the end Lehi speaks to Zoram and tells him that he knows he is a "true friend" to Nephi forever. He tells him that because of his faithfulness his see shall be blessed. When we are true friends and help the work of the Lord and support our leaders and Prophet we are also securing blessings for ourselves and our posterity. That gives me great comfort because I know I have many faults and weaknesses, I am not the most talented in ways of parenting and other things, but to know that through my faithfulness I can secure blessings for my children and theirs as well that maybe that can help make up for what I may do wrong in raising them and teaching them. Its not an excuse to not to well, but it is a comfort that maybe my shortcomings can be made up by blessings because I am trying and working to be righteous. I guess that gives me even more incentive to be really good and obedient!

I think that this chapter was very touching, to feel Lehi's emotion as he spoke to his children and friends. I think it makes it easier to relate to him, I can feel what he says but I can also understand my parents feelings better as well. My mom's words always "haunt" me because she really kind of is always right and she ALWAYS made sure that I knew she was and that I would see it someday. But she always used the common phrase, "you will understand when you have your own kids." And so it is true, again she is always right....so annoying!

My favorite verse of the chapter was 15, I will repeat it, "But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory , and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." May we all live the kind of life where we can know that the Lord has redeemed us and that we are encirlced in the arms of his love. I can't think of anything more comforting than this.