1 Nephi 17
Nephi gives grateful credit to God for their blessings as they journeyed in the wilderness towards the land the Lord had promised them.
7 "And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.
They journeyed for eight years in the wilderness, using the God-given Liahona to direct their travels, and finally reached the seashore, a place of beauty and plenty which they called Bountiful. They were there for the space of "many days" then the voice of the Lord came to Nephi, commanding him to build a ship to take them across the sea to their promised land. It would be a daunting task even though the Lord gave him specific instructions on how to do it. Nephi reflected back on the promises the Lord had previously given him, and he had faith that the Lord would give him the strength and ability he needed to accomplish the task. The Lord had promised:
13 "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.
14 "Yea, and the Lord said also that: After ye have arrived in the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God; and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction; yea, that I did bring you out of the land of Jerusalem."
Then Nephi says:
15 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence."
Like Nephi, we can trust the Lord to be our light in the "wilderness" as we travel towards our "promised land" if we diligently strive to keep his commandments. Although we aren't commanded to leave our homes and journey in the wilderness towards some unknown land like Lehi's family was, we each are making the journey towards our place in eternity. The Lord has given us commandments and instructions on how to reach the real Promised Land - Eternal Life with Him. The above promises given to Nephi are also extended to us if we obey the directions and commandments we have received.
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