Sufficient Guards

Elder Bednar recently invited us to “ask ourselves why the Lord inspired Mormon to include in his abridgment of the book of Helaman the accounts, admonitions, and warnings that he did,” and so I have decided to try to do that with each chapter of the book over the coming weeks. The first chapter of Helaman describes a time of political upheaval and war among the Nephites. Three sons of Pahoran all sought to obtain the judgment seat, and all of them died. The Lamanites came down to the land of Zarahemla and took possession of it for a time. Mormon commented on one of the reasons that the Lamanites were able to obtain the city so easily: “[The Nephites] had not kept sufficient guards in the land of Zarahemla; for they had supposed that the Lamanites durst not come into the heart of their lands to attack that great city Zarahemla…. For behold, Moronihah had supposed that the Lamanites durst not come into the center of the land, but that they would attack the cities round about in the borders as they had hitherto done; therefore Moronihah had caused that their strong armies should maintain those parts round about by the borders” (Helaman 1:18, 26). Perhaps one lesson from this account for us is that we must prioritize what is most important.  As Steven Covey would say, we need to put first things first. He said this: “Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you.”  The Nephites had prioritized the smaller cities on the outskirts of their lands, neglecting to properly protect the center of their civilization. For us that can look like focusing on activities that fill our time and seem pressing but which are not most important. And yet we often let them take away from what matters most. For example, if we get to all the sports games and music lessons and school activities with our family but fail to pray together and study the scriptures, we have supported the outskirts while failing to strengthen the center. We must give “sufficient” time to that which will, in the long run, make the most difference to our eternal welfare.

The corollary comes from what the Lamanites did after they obtained the city of Zarahemla. They should have stayed there and fortified their position and strengthened their army, but instead they immediately spread out and kept attacking other cities. The account records, “And now [Coriantumr] did not tarry in the land of Zarahemla, but he did march forth with a large army, even towards the city of Bountiful; for it was his determination to go forth and cut his way through with the sword, that he might obtain the north parts of the land.” This gave the Nephites a chance to respond and cut them off: “[Moronihah] did head them before they came to the land Bountiful, and gave unto them battle, insomuch that they began to retreat back towards the land of Zarahemla. And it came to pass that Moronihah did head them in their retreat, and did give unto them battle…. And now, behold, the Lamanites could not retreat either way, neither on the north, nor on the south, nor on the east, nor on the west, for they were surrounded on every hand by the Nephites. And thus had Coriantumr plunged the Lamanites into the midst of the Nephites, insomuch that they were in the power of the Nephites, and he himself was slain, and the Lamanites did yield themselves into the hands of the Nephites” (Helaman 1:23, 29-32). The Lamanites spread themselves too thin and so they lost everything they had gained. If they had focused on protecting what they had already obtained, the Nephites likely would not have been able to retake Zarahemla. But because Coriantumr tried to accomplish more than his army could realistically do, he lost it all. His story is not unlike that of the French under Napoleon in 1812 when they attacked Russia and made it all the way to Moscow. They soon found they had taken more than they could keep, and found themselves retreating all the way back to Paris in the cold winter of 1812-1813. The application for us is that we should not seek to run faster than we have strength; we should not try to do more than we realistically can. We must focus on what matters most and seek to strengthen and preserve that above all else. This first chapter of Helaman warns us against the frenetic pace of our society and encourages us to safeguard those activities which are of eternal significance.