2 Nephi 1
There are a lot of prophecies in here from Lehi about the American continent being a chosen and protected land for all those that the Lord brings here and that keep his commandments. I'm going to skip a lot of the prophecy parts for the same reason as the other chapters. And even though Lehi is speaking to his sons about their seed, reading it has made me so much more aware of what we as an American people are responsible for and what we are blessed with.
1:13 - Lehi begs his sons to "awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound." In a deep sleep, there is no activity, there is no progression and there is no regression, however this life is not meant to be lived in a static state. The old saying "if you're not growing, you're dying" seems applicable here. In an April 2012 general conference talk entitled "The Powers of Heaven", Elder David A. Bednar quotes President Spencer W. Kimball as saying "to break this (priesthood) covenant one needs only to do nothing." I'm a woman, I don't hold the priesthood, but I believe that this can apply to all those who don't realize that apathy means being left behind and consumed on this march toward heaven. Lehi knew that there was a war of good vs. evil raging and that the consequences were eternal in nature. Perhaps one way looking at this verse is specific to L&L. When Lehi appeals to them to "awake from a deep sleep" he is addressing apathy, those who just don't care, those who would pretend that "there's nothing to see here" and would rather live their own lives doing whatever they wanted than to accept the fact that this life is a test and that even if they refuse to see or believe it, they are held accountable for what they do with their lives. What does it mean to be "spiritually asleep?" And the chains are the habits, the small things we do that we do over and over again until getting away from that is almost impossible, almost.
1:15 - I love that Lehi says "but behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell... and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." I saw a picture once of a man hugging Jesus in what appeared to be clouds and it's so touching because really that's one of the greatest ways to communicate "I'm glad you're home." There's a sense of peace and security in being "encircled... in the arms of his love." It's a rest, it's like after you've run a huge race and you finish and the race was hard and you worked against fatigue and exhaustion to make it to the finish line and a person who is very important to you catches you and holds you. I mean, I personally don't know what that is like, but I've seen it happen before and it looks nice.
1:13 - Lehi begs his sons to "awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound." In a deep sleep, there is no activity, there is no progression and there is no regression, however this life is not meant to be lived in a static state. The old saying "if you're not growing, you're dying" seems applicable here. In an April 2012 general conference talk entitled "The Powers of Heaven", Elder David A. Bednar quotes President Spencer W. Kimball as saying "to break this (priesthood) covenant one needs only to do nothing." I'm a woman, I don't hold the priesthood, but I believe that this can apply to all those who don't realize that apathy means being left behind and consumed on this march toward heaven. Lehi knew that there was a war of good vs. evil raging and that the consequences were eternal in nature. Perhaps one way looking at this verse is specific to L&L. When Lehi appeals to them to "awake from a deep sleep" he is addressing apathy, those who just don't care, those who would pretend that "there's nothing to see here" and would rather live their own lives doing whatever they wanted than to accept the fact that this life is a test and that even if they refuse to see or believe it, they are held accountable for what they do with their lives. What does it mean to be "spiritually asleep?" And the chains are the habits, the small things we do that we do over and over again until getting away from that is almost impossible, almost.
1:15 - I love that Lehi says "but behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell... and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." I saw a picture once of a man hugging Jesus in what appeared to be clouds and it's so touching because really that's one of the greatest ways to communicate "I'm glad you're home." There's a sense of peace and security in being "encircled... in the arms of his love." It's a rest, it's like after you've run a huge race and you finish and the race was hard and you worked against fatigue and exhaustion to make it to the finish line and a person who is very important to you catches you and holds you. I mean, I personally don't know what that is like, but I've seen it happen before and it looks nice.
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