Thou Hast Not Sought Thine Own Life

After the Lord gave to Nephi the sealing power, He commanded the prophet to go back to the people and preach unto them again: “And now behold, I command you, that ye shall go and declare unto this people, that thus saith the Lord God, who is the Almighty: Except ye repent ye shall be smitten, even unto destruction.” Nephi’s response highlights the kind of obedience he had: “And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him, concerning their destruction if they did not repent.” Even though he had just been rejected by them, he went directly to give unto them this message from the Lord. And despite the fact that he was fulfilling the Lord’s mission, he did not do any better this time and they once again refused to accept his words and persecuted him: “They did revile against him, and did seek to lay their hands upon him that they might cast him into prison. But behold, the power of God was with him, and they could not take him to cast him into prison, for he was taken by the Spirit and conveyed away out of the midst of them.” This experience of being saved from the mob by the power of the Spirit reminds me of what happened to the Savior. After he declared to the Jews in the synagogue at Galilee that He was the Messiah, they were angry with Him and sought to kill Him. Luke recorded, “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days” (Luke 4:28-31). I believe it was, like Nephi, by that same power of the Spirit that He was able to slip away from them when they sought to kill him.

Both Nephi and Jesus showed that they were unafraid of those who opposed them and threatened them. Luke also said that Jesus went forth among the people “in the power of the Spirit,” clearly undeterred by those who sought to kill Him. After the people in Nazareth sought to thrown Jesus headfirst down the hill, He did not hide or stop preaching. Rather He “went his way, and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days” (Luke 4:14, 31). Towards the end of His ministry the Savior showed again that He was not afraid of those who sought His life. When He told his apostles that He was going to go back to Judaea to see Lazarus who had died, “His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” Jesus responded, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.” He was not afraid to walk in the light while others lurked in the darkness to kill Him. Thomas was so sure that returning to Judaea would result in His death that he remarked, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:8-9, 16). Nephi had the same unwavering commitment to doing the Lord’s will despite the dangers. Even after they tried to put Nephi in prison, he “did go forth in the Spirit, from multitude to multitude, declaring the word of God, even until he had declared it unto them all, or sent it forth among all the people.” Violence erupted among the people, and yet he was still protected by the Lord: “And it came to pass that they would not hearken unto his words; and there began to be contentions, insomuch that they were divided against themselves and began to slay one another with the sword” (Helaman 10:17-18). Later as the people sought to kill Samuel the Lamanite for his preaching, Nephi likewise continued teaching despite the dangers: “For behold, Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come” (Helaman 16:4). Both Nephi and the Savior are powerful examples of doing the Lord’s will first no matter what the dangers or costs are to us. Nephi received great trust from the Lord because of this unwavering and fearless commitment: “I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments” (Helaman 10:4). As we seek His will over our own lives, we can hope to earn the same kind of trust and blessings from the Lord as Nephi.