Scripture Study Insights - week one
1 Nephi 1 - Good parents: teach, keep records, pray, read scriptures, praise God, work hard (make things with their own hand), and look for miracles (tender mercies)
1 Nephi 2 - I should be: humble, submissive, gentle, patient, temperate, diligent, obedient, prayerful, thankful, “easy to be entreated” or helpful. Faith, hope and charity lead to good works. Taken from Alma 7:23-24
1 Nephi 3 - Commandments are not from parents, but from God. We are blessed when we don’t complain, so alternatively complainers rarely see blessings. God’s ways work, not ours. First Nephi and his brothers “cast lots” – left things to chance – then they used they used their own reasoning – let’s buy the plates – before seeking for and trusting God’s way – even though they had no idea what his way was.
1 Nephi 4 - Just GO. We can’t know the Lord’s plan from the beginning, yet as we gain more knowledge it makes sense. 1) Kill Laban. 2) Kill Laban, God has delivered him into your hands. 3) Kill Laban. God has delivered him into your hands. The Lord slayeth the wicked for his purposes; it is better for one man to die than a nation to perish. “Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reasons thereof till long after the events transpire.” Joseph Smith, Teachings, pg. 256. See also D&C 64:12-13 and Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, September 1976, pg. 83
1 Nephi 5 - Comfort others by bearing testimony to them. Example of chapter 1’s teach, pray, read scriptures, praise God, appreciate tender mercies.
1 Nephi 6 - Keep records of worth. Write about the things of God, don’t worry about everything. Persuade others to “come unto Christ.”
1 Nephi 7 - It’s a commandment to raise up children to God. We also have a responsibility to help others remember Him, and His miracles and blessings, even if they get angry with us for doing so.
These are just snippets of thoughts, but they're the ones I was inspired to record. On Saturday, I only spent a couple of minutes actually reading in the Book of Mormon. Michelle noticed and wondered why I didn't take the 15 minutes that seminary teachers require of their students. That was a good question! But I have learned that reading just a couple of minutes in the morning gives me a focus for something to think about throughout the whole day, and even a little bit makes a difference. That's one reason why I love Elder Packer's quote: “Things of the Spirit need not – indeed should not – require our uninterrupted time and attention. Ordinary work-a-day things occupy most of our attention. And that is as it should be. We are mortal beings living in this physical world. Spiritual things are like leavening. By measure they may be very small, but by influence they affect all that we do.”
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