"14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling aparent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent bgrave, from whence no traveler can creturn; a few more ddays and I go the eway of all the earth."
Lehi calls to his oldest sons, and probably the sons of Ishmael, too, for them to awaken out of their deep sleep of hell. What a great metaphor. I have seen people in my life who are "sleeping." It saddens me so much that they don't realize how they sound when they talk of their ideas or plans. You know in your heart that they are not seeking what they should and are blinded by things they really want, but you realize that they aren't going to work and you feel for them. Later, when what has happened happens and they are sad and in worse shape than they were before, it is like they are in a gulf of misery and woe. There are extreme versions of this which come to pass for the few truly wicked, but I think that this scripture can apply for those righteous who are deceived.
He uses another wonderful metaphor for the reality of being ensnared by the devil. He says that those people are bound by chains. A good cross reference to this is 2 Nephi 26:22, which says:
"22 And there are also secret acombinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the bdevil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and cworks of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever."
If you follow the temptations of the devil, he will first bind you with a flaxen cord, by having you do little things that seem to not be really bad or forbidden, but that are not good, too. You could break free of it when you choose and the bondage is not strong. But, when we "like" it we follow those temptations more and more, thus binding ourselves further until we are bound with strong cords and chains. We are bound by the consequences of our decisions. They may be temporal or spiritual, but most likely both.
Lehi then calls again to them to awake and hear the words of your trembling parent. Who in a few days will die. It reminds me of missionaries that leave their area. They make one more effort to try and convince those they have taught and loved to get baptized or come to church. In a few days they will be gone. Lehi loves his sons very much and has pleaded with them to follow the commandments and prosper.
We must think of ourselves first here. Could it be possible that we are bound and not know it? How does our family feel about our spirituality? It is likely that if they are following the commandments, they can be a good source of advice or perspective. What do our spiritual leaders say? Think about and read from General Conference talks. Are we following their counsel?
Lehi calls to his oldest sons, and probably the sons of Ishmael, too, for them to awaken out of their deep sleep of hell. What a great metaphor. I have seen people in my life who are "sleeping." It saddens me so much that they don't realize how they sound when they talk of their ideas or plans. You know in your heart that they are not seeking what they should and are blinded by things they really want, but you realize that they aren't going to work and you feel for them. Later, when what has happened happens and they are sad and in worse shape than they were before, it is like they are in a gulf of misery and woe. There are extreme versions of this which come to pass for the few truly wicked, but I think that this scripture can apply for those righteous who are deceived.
He uses another wonderful metaphor for the reality of being ensnared by the devil. He says that those people are bound by chains. A good cross reference to this is 2 Nephi 26:22, which says:
"22 And there are also secret acombinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the bdevil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and cworks of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever."
If you follow the temptations of the devil, he will first bind you with a flaxen cord, by having you do little things that seem to not be really bad or forbidden, but that are not good, too. You could break free of it when you choose and the bondage is not strong. But, when we "like" it we follow those temptations more and more, thus binding ourselves further until we are bound with strong cords and chains. We are bound by the consequences of our decisions. They may be temporal or spiritual, but most likely both.
Lehi then calls again to them to awake and hear the words of your trembling parent. Who in a few days will die. It reminds me of missionaries that leave their area. They make one more effort to try and convince those they have taught and loved to get baptized or come to church. In a few days they will be gone. Lehi loves his sons very much and has pleaded with them to follow the commandments and prosper.
We must think of ourselves first here. Could it be possible that we are bound and not know it? How does our family feel about our spirituality? It is likely that if they are following the commandments, they can be a good source of advice or perspective. What do our spiritual leaders say? Think about and read from General Conference talks. Are we following their counsel?
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