Wednesday, December 23, 2015

1 Nephi 8:35

35  And aLaman and Lemuel partook not of the fruit, said my father.
            -Nephi had just finished describing the sad general rejection by multitudes of people.  It must have been a discouraging panoramic view of so many people rejecting, in mass, the gospel and love of God.  The overview suddenly becomes very personal as the spotlight falls on two individuals.
            -In this live we cannot do all things, we cannot change the lives of masses of people.  Evil and wickedness will continue to retain a substantial hold over the world but there are a select few who fall directly within our sphere of influences who we have some level of responsibility for.  These are they whom we are to look after, work on and pray for.  And shouldn’t it be so?  We know best the specifics (the needs, concerns, hang ups, etc.) of our family members.  Saving souls happens one at a time.  And while it is God’s work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of mankind, each man or woman  obtains that goal individually, it does not happen to entire races or generations, families, clubs or even pairs  -it happens one at a time.  This should be very telling about the manner in which we should assist the Lord in this effort.  Lehi, although surely troubled by the mass rejection of the fruit, was fundamentally concerned that two particular people did not partake.  Can you imagine the anxiety this created in him and how it surely weighted on his soul?!

 

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