Scripture Thought
1 Nephi 4:9-10
Nephi is now walking on his own, being led by the spirit, seeking that higher sense of guidance now that he has departed the influence or defluence of his brothers. What does he find? Laban, passed out in and alcoholic stupor. But that is not what attracts Nephi's eye. Let's think about this for a minute.
Here is a young boy, sent to do this incredible task. He is the son of a vineyard master. He has been taught the ways of the Lord, the ways of the vineyard, like most boys I know, in his spare time dreams about making weapons out of everything they can get their hands on. So, what does Nephi see? A metal sword. COOL!
He is drawn to the craftsmanship, the way it feels in his hands, the power and damage one could do with it. I imagine my own boys holding such and tool of power. The first thing they would do is look around for something to destroy. Let me hit a tree, a box, the side of a house, just something. They would want to see what it could do, how far they could stick it into the object they hit. They would probably throw in to the air to see if they could catch it by the handle or stick it in the dirt. Knowing the things that my children would do, makes me wonder what was going through Nephi's mind.
Then I ask, does the spirit have some influence here?
Here he stands holding this weapon of beauty. His mind is being filled with all sorts of crazy ideas and suddenly the spirit CONSTRAINS him. What does it mean to constrain? I looked it up in the dictionary.
Constrain: to confine; to restrain; to compel
How can one word mean so many things. When I read these words it almost sounds like they contradict each other. Is that what was happening in Nephi's mind, contradiction?
Confine: means to set a boundary or region.
Was Nephi give the boundaries of the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill"? Was he being told what was and was not allowed under boundaries of this commandment?
Restrain: means to hold back, check, to limit or restrict.
Nephi was restrained, he knew that he should not kill. He also knew that this man had tried to kill his brothers and him. As he started thinking about the commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Kill", yet the children of Israel had been in many wars. When they were lead into the promised land they had to kill people. There must be a limit to what you can and cannot do. Killing is not to be done in anger, but in defense of others, for the betterment of man. The Lord gave commandments as a guide to help us set boundaries, to give us checks that would hold us back.
Compel: means to drive or force.
How much conflict was going on within Nephi? The word itself is filled with so much conflict. Nephi was feeling forced or driven to do something he did not feel comfortable doing.
Nephi felt constrained. He did not like the idea and could not believe the ideas had even entered his heart and mind. He began to question whether he was really hearing the constraints of the spirit or the adversary. He began reasoning.
We can learn from this. As we go to higher levels of spirituality, there may be times that we feel constrained. We don't want to leave the comforts of the level we were on. The new level may find us in less comfortable levels than we want to be in, but learning from the experiences will be good for all.
Nephi is now walking on his own, being led by the spirit, seeking that higher sense of guidance now that he has departed the influence or defluence of his brothers. What does he find? Laban, passed out in and alcoholic stupor. But that is not what attracts Nephi's eye. Let's think about this for a minute.
Here is a young boy, sent to do this incredible task. He is the son of a vineyard master. He has been taught the ways of the Lord, the ways of the vineyard, like most boys I know, in his spare time dreams about making weapons out of everything they can get their hands on. So, what does Nephi see? A metal sword. COOL!
He is drawn to the craftsmanship, the way it feels in his hands, the power and damage one could do with it. I imagine my own boys holding such and tool of power. The first thing they would do is look around for something to destroy. Let me hit a tree, a box, the side of a house, just something. They would want to see what it could do, how far they could stick it into the object they hit. They would probably throw in to the air to see if they could catch it by the handle or stick it in the dirt. Knowing the things that my children would do, makes me wonder what was going through Nephi's mind.
Then I ask, does the spirit have some influence here?
Here he stands holding this weapon of beauty. His mind is being filled with all sorts of crazy ideas and suddenly the spirit CONSTRAINS him. What does it mean to constrain? I looked it up in the dictionary.
Constrain: to confine; to restrain; to compel
How can one word mean so many things. When I read these words it almost sounds like they contradict each other. Is that what was happening in Nephi's mind, contradiction?
Confine: means to set a boundary or region.
Was Nephi give the boundaries of the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill"? Was he being told what was and was not allowed under boundaries of this commandment?
Restrain: means to hold back, check, to limit or restrict.
Nephi was restrained, he knew that he should not kill. He also knew that this man had tried to kill his brothers and him. As he started thinking about the commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Kill", yet the children of Israel had been in many wars. When they were lead into the promised land they had to kill people. There must be a limit to what you can and cannot do. Killing is not to be done in anger, but in defense of others, for the betterment of man. The Lord gave commandments as a guide to help us set boundaries, to give us checks that would hold us back.
Compel: means to drive or force.
How much conflict was going on within Nephi? The word itself is filled with so much conflict. Nephi was feeling forced or driven to do something he did not feel comfortable doing.
Nephi felt constrained. He did not like the idea and could not believe the ideas had even entered his heart and mind. He began to question whether he was really hearing the constraints of the spirit or the adversary. He began reasoning.
We can learn from this. As we go to higher levels of spirituality, there may be times that we feel constrained. We don't want to leave the comforts of the level we were on. The new level may find us in less comfortable levels than we want to be in, but learning from the experiences will be good for all.
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