Seeds in the Promised Land

After Lehi and his family arrived in the promised land, the first thing that we read of is that they began “to till the earth, and [they] began to plant seeds” (1 Nephi 18:24).  They had brought seeds with them from Bountiful and were surely dependent on these seeds being able to grow and produce food for their large group (see 1 Nephi 18:6).  I remember my mission president asking an Elder a question something to the effect of, “If you were Nephi, how many of the seeds would you plant that first season? 10%? 20%?”  Nephi could not have known by experience whether or not the seeds would grow in that area they were at, and whatever he planted would be lost if the seeds did not grow.  So there was certainly a risk of not being able to grow the food they needed if they lost their seeds.   What did Nephi do?  He told us that they “put all our seeds into the earth” (1 Nephi 18:24).  Was this foolish?  By logic alone certainly itwas.  They should have saved most of them so they could test the soil there and be ready to move on to a different location with seeds still at their disposal if this area wasn’t fit to grow what they needed.  But this wasn’t a question of logic—it was about the faith of Nephi to trust in the Lord’s promises.  If the Lord had led them to that spot and told them it was the promised land, then that’s where they were supposed to be and that’s where their seeds would grow best.  When we know the Lord has guided us to a certain place of decision, we go forward by putting all our seeds in the ground with no turning back. 

                Several times in the Book of Mormon I think we see this kind of all-or-nothing faith and trust in the Lord.  Sometimes decisions are such that we really can’t turn back once we move forward (or it is at least very hard to do so).  Decisions such as marriage, serving a mission, having children, etc. are those where we don’t simply turn back the next day and change our mind.  It can take great faith to move forward sometimes, but that’s what the Lord expects of us when it is right.  For example, we read this about the Jaredites as they set forth to cross the ocean: “They got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God” (Ether 6:4).  What great faith that must have taken to get in the barge and completely trust the Lord that the wind and ocean would take them to the promised land!  They certainly couldn’t change their minds halfway through.  This is the same kind of faith that Lehi’s group had to have as they also stepped onto a boat and commended themselves into the waters.  Ammon and his brethren showed this kind of faith as well when they plunged themselves into the midst of the Lamanites hoping to preach the gospel.  Once Ammon was  in the house of Lamoni, there was certainly no turning back. 

                There’s a story about President Packer who received counsel from President McKay that he didn’t think there was a way to follow.   After discussing this with President Harold B. Lee he was told, “The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning….  You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you” (see here).  That’s the kind of faith that puts all the seeds in the ground.   We read from Nephi that the seeds did “grow exceedingly ; wherefore [they] were blessed in abundance” (1 Nephi 18:24).  We likewise will have times when this kind of faith is required, and when we know a course of action is in accordance with the will of God, we go forward with it placing all our seeds in the ground.