1 Nephi 2:3-4

3 And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him.

4 And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness.

Clearly Lehi sacrificed all of his worldly possessions to follow the commandment. Lehi was obviously a wealthy man of station in his community. He didn’t merely give up his possessions; he sacrificed them. This is a higher act than abandonment. The Latin roots of this word mean to make sacred. What Lehi did was a type or example of what we need to do to gain our “promised land,” even exaltation. We need to put the things of God at a higher priority than the things of the world. One of the most significant things we can sacrifice or give up for the Lord is our sins. King Lamoni’s father makes this clear as he is converted. He prays and says in all sincerity that he will “give away all [his] sins to know [God].” (Alma 22: 18) Who would he give them to? The Savior. If Lehi had not sacrificed his possessions for the Lord, or left the world behind him, he would have been destroyed along with the rest of “the world,” represented here by Jerusalem. I need to sacrifice my connections to the world (sin), or in the last day I will be destroyed with the world. Those who followed Lehi (the prophet) were spared that destruction. Even Laman and Lemuel were blessed to the extent that they followed the prophet, albeit reluctantly. They physically followed him and were spared a physical destruction. Because they did not follow the prophet spiritually, they could not be spared a spiritual destruction, and became cursed. (2 Nephi 5:21) This would be like establishing food storage, but not preparing spiritually for difficult times.