Book of Mormon 60 Day Reading Challenge: Day 1

1 Nephi 1-5

     The first section of reading for this challenge is the first 5 chapters of 1 Nephi. This kind of seems like a lot of reading but it really isn't too bad and it all encompasses one story.

     This section starts of the book so it starts with an introduction that basically every mormon knows. "I Nephi having been born of goodly parents...yada yada yada" but even though I have read the first chapter about a million times I still think its important to read. Obviously this would be an important chapter because it's the very first one and so many people read it so many times. So I pushed through and read the whole 5 chapters. This is the story of Nephi and his brithers getting the plates from Laban so I was pretty familiar already but one thing that I do when reading scriptures is I look for one principle that I want to focus on, sometimes I know what I am looking for beforehand but other times I just let inspiration come to me, and then I try to find that principle throughout the story. The principle that I found while doing this reading was: 

If I keep the commandments of the Lord, even when they seem crazy or hard, then I will be blessed. 

This seems like a no brainer but keeping all of the commandments is something that I struggle with daily. Yeah, there are the big 10 that are super easy to follow, don't kill, don't steal, etc., but what about the smaller, everyday commandments? Only have one piercing in each ear, obey the word of wisdom, be careful with your language. These smaller commandments are so hard to follow because Satan uses the small things to break into your heart. Obeying the commandments is meant to be a blessing and meant to improve you overall, which in the long run they do, but short term it is extremely difficult to maybe see some of your friends out doing the things you know you should not and then they all have a fun time without you. Keeping the commandments is something that is crucial to our eternal well-being and I know that. It is something that I can sometimes struggle with because I am growing and that is how God's plan is formulated. It isn't supposed to be easy to get into the Celestial kingdom, but it is totally possible. Keeping the commandments is forming a habit of doing what God wants and believing that it will turn out well. Like Nephi there are days where there is no doubt in my mind that I should just do what God says, but there are also days where I can be like Laman and Lemuel, constantly questioning God's motives and why I should listen to what He has to say. This is humanity, and it is normal to question things, but it is important that what we do question we still obey because God knows what is best and by listening to Him we will become strong and powerful beings.