#bofm365 Day 9 - 1 Nephi 7:16 - 8:15

"...in spite of all they were taught, Laman, the archvillain, and his tag-along brother Lemuel emerge as fundamentally corrupt men. Their record was dismal: they were materialistic, faithless, disloyal, cowardly, complaining, cruel, lazy, untruthful, and, like Jacob's son Reuben, 'unstable as water' (Genesis 49:4)-humbling themselves one day and breathing out threats the next (1 Nephi 7:20; 16:5, 32, 39; 18:4, 15, 20). The only thing that really impressed them was power (1 Nephi 18:20). Above all, they were would-be murderers of their own father and brother. In the end, they polluted their posterity with their lies and brought a curse upon them that was not to be removed for more than a half a millennium.

"On the other hand, Nephi was a man of astonishing faith, profound humility, and consistent steadiness. In the latter, he was unequaled even by his parents...why the striking contrast between Nephi and his two brothers? Was one so good, and the others so bad? Is it a case of self-serving manipulation of the facts on Nephi's part? Hardly. If anything, Nephi has moderated his own virtues. I believe that Nephi and Laman symbolize that essential opposition between good and evil drawn so vividly in the Book of Mormon. They represent the two extremes found therein: life versus death, heaven versus hell, the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of the devil, the spiritually minded versus the carnally minded, the saved versus the lost-those sealed up to Christ and those sealed up to the devil (Alma 34:34-36; 40:23-26).

"Lehi knew that Laman and Lemuel...had seen an angel (1 Nephi 3:29; 4:3; 7:10; 17:45), had experienced the power of God (1 Nephi 7:18; 17:48, 52-55), and had heard the voice of the Lord and received of his Spirit (1 Nephi 16:39; 17:45). Yet they plotted Nephi's murder on at least four occasions (1 Nephi 7:16; 16:37; 17:48; 2 Nephi 5:2; compare 1:24), and their father's at least once (1 Nephi 16:37). Nephi accused Laman and Lemuel of being 'murderers in their hearts' (1 Nephi 17:44). They were prepared to shed innocent blood.

"These were not ignorant men; they stood self-condemned. When literally shocked by the Spirit, they testified: 'We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that has shaken us' (1 Nephi 17:55; compare 2 Nephi 4:22)." (Rodney Turner, First Nephi: The Doctrinal Foundation, edited by Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., pp. 82 - 83.)

#bofm365 Day 8 - 1 Nephi 7:1-15

"How is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him." - 1 Nephi 7:12

#bofm365 Day 7 - 1 Nephi 5:7 - 6:6

How has your life been blessed by searching the scriptures?

#bofm365 Day 6 - 1 Nephi 4:20 - 5:6

"And after they had given thanks unto the God of Israel, my father, Lehi, took the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, and he did search them from the beginning." 1 Nephi 5:10

#bofm365 Day 5 - 1 Nephi 4:1-19

"Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?" - 1 Nephi 4:1

Heber J. Grant said:

"That is the kind of faith to have. Let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of God and then we know that we can win the battle, though we may be opposed by a man with his tens of thousands. The final result was that Nephi got the plates." (Conference Report, Oct. 1899, p. 129)

#bofm365 Day 4 - 1 Nephi 3:9-31

Today and tomorrow's readings cover the Brass Plates in 1 Nephi 3.  The LDS Church has produced a series of videos that animate scripture storybooks that have been put together to help children better understand the lessons of the scriptures.  I have added the video that covers the topic of the brass plates:

#bofm365 Day 3 - 1 Nephi 2:16 - 3:8

In Chapter 3, we see that Nephi does indeed follow the example of his father Lehi in his willingness to obey the commandments of the Lord:

7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

 If you'd prefer to hear the verse in a song:

#bofm365 Day 2 - 1 Nephi 1:16 - 2:15

Today's reading is 1 Nephi 1:16 - 2:1.

The stage is set for Lehi's departure from Jerusalem:

1 For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said unto him: Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to take away thy life. 

2 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness. 

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

All that follows is because of Lehi's obedience to the Lord, and we will see in a few more chapters that Nephi has the same dedication to following the commandments.

#bofm365 Day 1 - 1 Nephi 1:1-15

It's a new year and a new opportunity to read the Book of Mormon!  My plan is to share the daily reading that is necessary to complete the entire book over the course of a year.  Because there are 530 pages in the Book of Mormon, and 365 days in the year, it works out to about a page and a half each day, so the reading isn't too tough.

The first reading selection is 1 Nephi 1:1-15.

I also plan to share thoughts and insights and resources based on the day's reading.  My intent is mostly to help me stay focused for the year and gain a deeper understanding of the Book of Mormon, and hopefully there is something along the way that will benefit someone else.

The very first verse of the Book of Mormon sets the stage for Nephi's story - he shares his love and appreciation for his parents and bears his testimony:

I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days. (1 Nephi 1:1)

One of the nice new helps that has been provided this year by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a series of videos portraying the events told in the book.  They were initially released starting September 2019 in a weekly format, telling the stories and actions in chronological order.  The first one covers 1 Nephi Chapters 1 and 2.