9 And I beheld his sword, and I drew it forth from the sheath thereof; and the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel.
It seems that Nephi was being led to do things he normally would not do, one step at a time. For example, as we see in the next couple of verses, Nephi was not a man drawn to violence, yet he took special note of Laban’s sword, to the point of actually drawing it from its sheath. I just wonder what was going through his mind at that time. Why would a non-violent person draw a sword and admire its craftsmanship, especially when the sword belonged to someone else. Did he already know that he was going to have to kill Laban? Maybe this is why Nephi was “led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things [he] should do.” (vs. 6) If he had known that he was to kill Laban ahead of time, would he have had the courage to go into the city? How often do we start a calling, a marriage, parenthood, whatever, not knowing beforehand what it will involve? If we had known that, would we have the courage to move forward?
2 comments:
That is a very profound statement. I had not thought of similarity between Nephi and this time, the different steps we make in our life that we don't know how is going to turn out.
As the saying goes, "Ignorance is bliss." It's amazing what we'll do if we don't know what the outcome will be. And how often we hesitate when we do know the outcome. Maybe that's why they describe faith as taking a step into a dark room, and your footsteps being lit one step at a time, instead of lighting the next step. Interestingly enough, I think we are often afraid of success just as much as we are of failure. I know that I have been in my life.
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