3 Nephi 1:19-20 -- On Signs, Prophets, and Testimony

"And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given. And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets."
3 Nephi 1:19-20


I love this sign, showing the people that Christ was born, even though they were in a different land. It's cool to see the timelines of different scriptural accounts match up perfectly like this. Also cool that the sign was given with perfect timing to save the people and convince so many of the truth.

In just a few verses though, they begin to be decieved again by Satan, and in a couple of chapters back to full-scale wickedness... so, as with Laman and Lemuel, we see that these dramatic signs aren't the real conversion tools that we sometimes want them to be. A dramatic sign from the Lord can be amazing, but if we don't build on that and learn more of the gospel, learn to walk in the Spirit, and learn more about God, then we are in danger of falling away from the truth as quickly as we turned towards it in that important moment.

Today, let's listen to the prophets even when we don't see a dramatic sign, and let's build our testimonies by studying the words of Christ and by learning of him. Let's appreciate signs for what they are, and turn to God, but also remember that we grow up in God little by little with sustained effort rather than all in that one dramatic moment :)