Are you a Laman and Lemuel?
This past week in my Pathways class we had a discussion on the story of Laman and Lemuel and their murmuring. And let me tell you this changed my perspective on how I should be acting as a Christian and what I should be looking out for with my attitude. For those of you not familiar with the story Laman, Lemuel, and Nephi are brothers and their Father is Lehi.
God spoke to Lehi and told him to take his family and leave Jerusalem, but Laman and Lemuel did not like that idea at ALL! So what do you do when you don't like something?? You murmur!
1Nephi 2:11
"Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their fold and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he has done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart."
When I am dissecting scripture one of the things I love doing is checking out definitions, sometimes the actual definition will give you an insight that you never would have thought of otherwise. So for our definitions of the day.....
Stiffneckedness
-haughty and obstinate
Topical Guide Definition:
Hard heartedness, Rebellion and Stubbornness
Murmer
- n. a mumbled or private expression of discontent.
- v. to complain in a low tone or in private.
Topical Guide Definition:
Disobedience, Disputations, Ingratitude, Rebellion
When I first read this I was like no I'm not Laman and Lemuel I'm not stiffnecked and I don't murmur.....and then the Holy Spirit beat some sense and humility into me and I realized that these definition applied to me. How many times do we complain because the light turned red, the checkout lines are to long, our hair is to frizzy, it's to hot, it's to cold, and my favorite...why? We all complain, we are all disobedient in one way or another to God's word, and we ALL have ingratitude at one time or another. If we imagined ourselves as a son or daughter of Lehi would we be in the corner with Laman and Lemuel? Most likely we would but there is a way to leave their corner and get in Nephi's corner, for because he was faithful he found his answer. And the faith that he used we can use every day to!
All we need to is to cry out to the Lord as Nephi did. He will here and answer us.
1 Nephi 2:16
"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did so often my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers."
So I challenge you this week to be like Nephi and not his brothers. Cry out to the Lord and be filled with faith, don't complain and be filled with disbelief!