"And he also taught them concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, saying: My sons, I would that ye should remember that were it not for these plates, which contain these records and these commandments, we must have suffered in ignorance, even at this present time, not knowing the mysteries of God.
For it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates; for he having been taught in the language of the Egyptians therefore he could read these engravings, and teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach them to their children, and so fulfilling the commandments of God, even down to this present time."
Mosiah 1:3-4
This is King Benjamin teaching his sons. And what strikes me about this is thinking about Nephi and his brothers, more than 500 years before this, going back to Jerusalem to get the plates, and the struggles they had because of the difficult thing that the Lord had asked them to do. This was a group of people that God was leading to the promised land, but unlike our promised land, they didn't have the internet, or the printing press, or even typewriters. Paper didn't come in packages. It was hard to make and didn't last the way that God knew it needed to, to teach an entire people. They had to make their own writing instruments. Sometimes I think we wonder why Nephi had to do what he did. Why God would ask that of anyone. And then we see this, hundreds of years later. Language and history preserved, and helping a people to build upon the knowledge of the past, and spread it to the people around them.
If God could see how that one thing would change culture and history hundreds of years later, surely, *surely* he knows what we can do that will not only change our lives for the good, but the lives of the people who follow us. Today, let's be done with doubts and struggles, and worrying that we don't always know exactly why. It is enough that God knows, and that he can see the ripples that our lives will make. Our answers will come in time, but until then, let us be faithful like Nephi, and be willing to go and do what the Lord commands.
For it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates; for he having been taught in the language of the Egyptians therefore he could read these engravings, and teach them to his children, that thereby they could teach them to their children, and so fulfilling the commandments of God, even down to this present time."
Mosiah 1:3-4
This is King Benjamin teaching his sons. And what strikes me about this is thinking about Nephi and his brothers, more than 500 years before this, going back to Jerusalem to get the plates, and the struggles they had because of the difficult thing that the Lord had asked them to do. This was a group of people that God was leading to the promised land, but unlike our promised land, they didn't have the internet, or the printing press, or even typewriters. Paper didn't come in packages. It was hard to make and didn't last the way that God knew it needed to, to teach an entire people. They had to make their own writing instruments. Sometimes I think we wonder why Nephi had to do what he did. Why God would ask that of anyone. And then we see this, hundreds of years later. Language and history preserved, and helping a people to build upon the knowledge of the past, and spread it to the people around them.
If God could see how that one thing would change culture and history hundreds of years later, surely, *surely* he knows what we can do that will not only change our lives for the good, but the lives of the people who follow us. Today, let's be done with doubts and struggles, and worrying that we don't always know exactly why. It is enough that God knows, and that he can see the ripples that our lives will make. Our answers will come in time, but until then, let us be faithful like Nephi, and be willing to go and do what the Lord commands.
No comments:
Post a Comment