1 Nephi, Chapter 16

Haven't you always been curious what the Liahona looked like exactly? I have a picture in my own head, but I wonder how close it is to reality.

That's not really my scriptural pondering for the day, just something that came to mind as I was reading. ;)


But my thought to consider for today is about Laman and Lemuel. At the beginning of the chapter they humble themselves and are walking in righteousness, but by the end they are right back to being hardhearted and disobedient. I know a lot of times when I've read this story or talked about it in classes, everyone kind of shakes their head over Laman and Lemuel and wonders how they could go through this cycle again and again. But today it struck me that I go through that cycle again and again also. Maybe not to the extremes of Laman and Lemuel, but still.

I have things that I struggle to believe and to obey and sometimes I do really well and do all that I should be doing. Other times I fall down and feel hardhearted until I have to repent and start the cycle over again. And again. And again.

So I guess my lesson for today is to not be so judgemental of Laman and Lemuel when I read their stories. And to not be judgemental of people that I encounter in my everyday life... I may not approve of some of the things they do, but there's no telling where they are in this cycle. Given time, they may be the ones to help me when I fall down to the bottom of the cycle.

1 Nephi, Chapter 6-7

In Chapter 7, Laman & Lemuel and some of Ishmael's family rebel against Nephi and Lehi. And I know that it was wrong of them, and it was certainly wrong of them to try and kill Nephi, but at the same time, I feel some sympathy for them.

If you think about it, all of these people had a very comfortable life in Jerusalem. And suddenly that was all jerked away from them. Suddenly they found themselves living in the wilderness, doing without all the comforts and entertainments they were used to. It must have been very difficult to deal with. When I picture how I would feel in this situation, I think I would feel rebellious, too!

In spite of all they did to Nephi in the course of their rebellion, he forgave them freely, with great hopes that they would stay on the right path. A great example of how we should behave towards those who wrong us!