Thursday, December 27, 2007

3 Nephi 4:15-18

15 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites did return again to their place of security. And it came to pass that this nineteenth year did pass away, and the robbers did not come again to battle; neither did they come again in the twentieth year.
16 And in the *twenty and first year they did not come up to battle, but they came up on all sides to lay siege round about the people of Nephi; for they did suppose that if they should cut off the people of Nephi from their lands, and should hem them in on every side, and if they should cut them off from all their outward privileges, that they could cause them to yield themselves up according to their wishes.
17 Now they had appointed unto themselves another leader, whose name was Zemnarihah; therefore it was Zemnarihah that did cause that this siege should take place.
18 But behold, this was an advantage to the Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites, because of their much provision which they had laid up in store,

(Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 4:15 - 18)

My comments:
The robbers thought to conquer the Nephites by laying siege to their city. However, they were unsuccessful in their efforts, “because of their much provision which they had laid up in store.”
This shows how important it is for us to create reserves that we can draw upon in times of need, both temporal and spiritual. The church encourages its members to set aside a food supply and some money in savings for hard times.

Additionally, we need to have spiritual reserves built up for when life becomes difficult, as it always does from time to time. We need to have the faith that can sustain us through trials and tribulations.

In this example, the Nephites didn’t wait until times of trial, to start preparing; rather they proactively saw the need to have reserves in place, well before the siege was laid. Their wisdom in doing so sustains them through this difficult time.

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