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Fruit of the Tree

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1 Nephi 15:36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen. Nephi puts the fruit of the tree of life into perspective. The love of God, as evidenced in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, bears a most valuable and desirable fruit, even my salvation. I am valuable to God because I am part of His family. My salvation and exaltation are His one and only priority, and He and His Beloved Son have paid dearly to enable me to bear fruit and to be the fruit of Their labors.  Thus, I am precious and desirable above all else in the universe, not because I am all that special in and of myself, but because God loves me and has set my price--the price of redemption through the suffering and death of His Son.  Knowing that, I ought to value myself as highly as God values me. I cannot take Hi...
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Perfectly Clean

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1 Nephi 15:34 But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy. I must be as clean as the kingdom in which I hope to dwell. God's kingdom is perfectly clean, and so I must be perfectly clean to be in it. Only Christ can make me that clean.
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Accept His Gift

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1 Nephi 15:32 And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation. What I do in this life matters. I cannot earn my way into heaven, but I can disqualify myself. As a probationer in mortality, I started off with a clean slate when I was born. God sent me into the world with a conscience, called the Light of Christ, to give me a moral sense of right and wrong. Making right choices simply keeps my slate clean. Making wrong choices, however, puts black marks on my slate.  We are all going to make mistakes that deface our clean slate. If we learn from our mistakes and correct them, we limit the number of black marks. But how do we remove the marks we made before we knew better?  That is where Christ's atonement comes in. He gives me the opportunity and ability to repent. I can ...
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1 Nephi 15:25 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul, and with all the faculty which I possessed, that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all things. Nephi set for us the consummate example of the diligent teacher. He poured all his energy, imagination, and abilities into teaching his brothers. Nephi magnified his calling to teach his family.  Do I put the same effort and diligence into ministering to my assigned families? Do I expend all the energy God requires of me to teach my children and grandchildren? Or am I stingy with my energies and faculties? Do I save my energy for trivial, temporal activities? Do I put more imagination and creativity into my hobbies than I do into fulfilling my assignments in the church? Do I save my best work for the world, or does my family and my callings get my best effort?  In the Final Judgment, G...
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Avoiding Apostasy

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1 Nephi 15:24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction. The key to avoiding apostasy is daily immersion in the scriptures. Each time I open and read in the scriptures, I attune myself to the influence of the Holy Ghost. God pours His spirit into me as I study His word. Now, another way to read this passage is to recognize that Jesus Christ is the Word of God. When we hold fast to Christ, we cannot go far astray from His gospel. He will use His power to protect us and guide us.
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Too Proud to Ask

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1 Nephi 15:21 And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again, saying: What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a dream? What meaneth the tree which he saw? Laman and Lemuel were smart enough to know that Lehi's dream was filled with symbols. I think they avoided asking Lehi the meaning of the symbols because they didn't want to look stupid in their father's eyes. When one is proud, to ask a question is to admit a lack of knowledge or understanding, which might mean weakness. But God wants us to be weak and humble.  Laman and Lemuel also did not ask God about the meaning of the symbols, probably because they didn't think they would get an answer. They assumed God spoke only to dreamers and visionary men like their father, not to practical and worldly men like themselves.  So, they asked Nephi. He was not as worldly and concrete as they were, but he had also not yet shown himself to be a visionary man like their father. They could admit their ignorance to Ne...
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God Will Do His Own Teaching

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1 Nephi 15:11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you. President Nelson has said, "God will do His own teaching." If we need to know anything that affects our salvation or our happiness, whether it's about the temple, the scriptures, the church, the gospel, the commandments, or our behavior, God will reveal it to us if we ask with a genuine desire and the intention to act on what we learn.  God does not respond to idle curiosity, but He never leaves a true desire unfulfilled when properly petitioned. He is both a loving Father and a master Teacher. According to His own will, and in His own time and way, He will surely give us what we truly need for our salvation and happiness. 
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