Monday, June 29, 2015

1 Nephi 3:17

17  For he knew that Jerusalem must be adestroyed, because of the wickedness of the people.
            -Lehi abandoned his wordly wealth.  It was  part of the Jerusalem reality, a component and possibly a symbol of the wickedness of the people.  Lehi left all of it behind, he was able to disengage from an element of mortality that has such tremendous sway on our hearts:  money.  Are we equally willing to walk away from a value system that is so entrenched in us that it motivates so much of what we do (it significantly influences what we buy, what we wear, how we look at others, where we live, what we choose for a profession, what we spend so much time doing.  Money drives us like few other things.  Lehi tossed all the baggage associated with wealth (money) aside and freed himself.  Leaving his wealth at Jerusalem was a symbol of his new life free of the wicked influences of the world he knew.

     “he knew”
            -this definite knowledge was beyond the ability of man to see with or by his own power.  This is the privilege the Lord gives to his obedient followers.

    “must be”
            -wickedness is unsustainable.  It is as if Jerusalem had passed a point of no return.  Destruction was not simply a high probability event, it was a forgone conclusion.  Just as certainly as spring follows winter, Jerusalem, in its state of wickedness, would be destroyed.

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