When Lehi and
his family leave Jerusalem, they camp near a river’s outlet to the Red Sea, and
Lehi tries to use the geographical features around them to teach his sons how
they need to be.
9 And
when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of
the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: O that thou mightest be like unto
this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!
10 And
he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm
and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!
11 Now
this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold
they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary
man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their
inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to
perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish
imaginations of his heart. (1 Nephi 2:9-11)
To me it is obvious that Lehi hoped the
way rivers continually run to the ocean would be a good illustration to Laman
of how he should continually run toward the Lord.
But I have often been puzzled that Lehi
pointed out the desirable qualities of the valley to Lemuel as being firm,
steadfast, and immoveable, especially when it would be much more obvious to say
the most desirable quality that Lemuel needed most was humility, which perfectly matched the obvious lowness of valleys.
But maybe Lehi hoped that message would
go without saying and called attention to other desirable qualities of valleys
that he hoped Lemuel would decide to cultivate.
Overall, the characteristics of
continually running into the fountain of all righteousness and steadfastness
(and humility) are great ones for anyone to acquire.
In that same chapter, Nephi tells of
how he cried to the Lord because he wanted to know the mysteries of God and the
Lord softened his heart so he believed and didn’t rebel. When he prays for
Laman and Lemuel, the Lord commends him with these words:
And
it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi,
because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of
heart. (1 Nephi 2:19)
The
very qualities Lehi wanted for Laman and Lemuel, Nephi was acquiring, so Nephi
was gaining blessings that his brothers could have had if they had only
listened.
Starting
today, let’s seek the Lord diligently, with a humble heart.
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