Insights from the Book of Mormon: 1 Nephi 3:5

"And now, behold thy brothers murmur, saying it is a hard thing which I have required of them; but behold I have not required it of them, but it is a commandment of the Lord." ~The First Book of Nephi 3:5

The background for this is as follows. When Lehi and his family left Jerusalem, they did not have a record of the Jews with them; a record that would contain the commandments of the Lord, a record that would have their lineage. Therefore the Lord gave a commandment to go and get one that He had prepared and preserved for them. Lehi was obedient to this word. Because of Lehi's rather old age the instruction was that his sons Laman, Lemuel, Nephi and Sam would go and get them. The challenge was that the record was in the hands of Laban; a rich, easily angered, violent, greedy elite man with a private guard of a kind. This is why Laman and Lemuel did murmur.

But now you know the starting point I had. This sparked a thought in my mind. It reminded me of Christ's words when he spoke along these lines: "one who acts according to these words will know if they are from God or if I speak of my own."

For many of our youth it may be hard to grasp one of the lessons here. Standards and principles that the Father and Christ, our oldest Brother, expect us to follow are not just arbitrary limits to bug us. They are road signs to balanced life filled with inner peace and foundational happiness.

The challenge is that not too many of us remember hearing these things face to face from the Father or the Son. Someone else, a human being or our "conscience" has always been the one to teach us. That is maybe why so many argue them as inventions of control-freak men.

We know them to be from the Father because we have tried "these words" and received a result. All of us from a rebellious teenager to a law-abiding senior citizen must find out for ourselves if the commandments are from God who knows all things or from a man who has given his or her own, perhaps a well considered but not completely waterproof, solution.

For myself I know that we have a Heavenly Father who has given us commandments, counsel and direction that are founded on eternal laws - equally unchanging and equally unrelative as the laws of nature. These laws have been received in various ways. They have been forwarded with various methods but all the same "[a man has] not required it of [us], but it is a commandment of the Lord."

Insights from the Book of Mormon: 1 Nephi 2:20

Here Lehi (a prophet living in Jerusalem about 600 B.C.) has fled out of the city with his family as the Lord commanded him to do. The people in Jerusalem were attempting to take his life because of his preaching. Two of Lehi's sons Laman and Lemuel rebelled against him in the wilderness. Nephi was much saddened by the behavior of his older brothers. He prayed for guidance and comfort. And the following words were spoken to him by the Lord.

"And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands." ~ The First Book of Nephi 2:20

Our Heavenly Father has given us, His children, a promise after a promise. Here we learn of the patter of how the promises are fulfilled.

The promise spoken of in this particular verse is "ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise...". It goes on to describe this land how it is chosen above all others. The condition is: "...inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments...". This is all Father asks here.

This is the pattern in EVERYTHING relating to the blessings and promises of our Father. No one is an exception. No one escapes the conditions of repentance and obedience. Additional verse in Doctrine & Covenants 130:20-21

Another beautiful detail in this verse is how we can read it to ourselves today. For Lehi and his family the land of promise was very physical, a very tangible place. Today it is rather rare that the Lord would command someone to flee and leave everything behind. Especially when there is not always an immediate threat of being murdered.  Replace the word land with the word life.

Our Heavenly Father has prepared a life to each and every one of us, a life that is better and brighter than any other. When we follow the commandments given by our Father who as a God knows all things, we will find ourselves on a path that will lead to greatest happiness and peace in this life and to our Heavenly Home in the life to come.