days 7&8: 1 Nephi 7-8

Again, I DID indeed read last night, I was just too tired to get out of bed and get the computer. That's what I get for waiting until right before bed to read (which is exactly what I'm doing right now...oops).

Anyway, as of last night, Nephi and his brothers are married men! They went back to Jerusalem after Lehi received another vision stating that they do this, to snag Ishmael & Co, and marry the daughters, and surprise, surprise, Laman and Lemuel whine and complain, but this time they take some of Ishmael's family with them, and seek to take their brother's life. It's a good thing Nephi is so faithful though, because his faith enables him to  free himself from the cords that his brothers bind him with, and is able to soften their hearts.

Chapter 8 is comprised of Lehi's vision of the tree of life/iron rod/great and spacious building etc.  My study guide book talks about how Christ is the tree, the focus of the vision, as he should be the main focus of our lives. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the "spacious building"-ness of our world, even without realizing it and the simplicity of the symbolism really puts it all into perspective.

days 5 & 6: 1 Nephi 5-6

I did read both days I promise! The whole blog thing is even harder to keep up than the reading scriptures part.

Anyway, 1 Nephi 5 goes into the joyous reunion of the family, and some descriptions of the plates brought back from Laban.

Chapter 6 is short and sweet, with Nephi explaining that his purpose in writing is not to give a genealogy of his fathers, but to write things to persuade those that will read it to come to Christ. And while history and genealogy is important, nothing is more important than coming to Christ. Thanks for the perspective, Nephi.