Clinging and Holding Fast

In the vision of the tree of life, there are two general groups, apart from Lehi and his family, who made their way on the path to the tree.  Lehi described the first this way, “I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.”  But, after they made it there to the tree and partook of the fruit, “they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed” because of those mocking in the great and spacious building.  Ultimately this group, despite the fact that they had followed the iron rod and tasted of the fruit, “fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.” The second group who made it to the tree were described this way by Nephi: “He saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree” (1 Nephi 8:24-30). Nephi did not mention that this group fell away, and so I think we can assume that they did not—they made it to the tree, fell down, and stayed there.  So why the different outcome between these two groups who both held on to the rod and successfully made their way to the tree? 

Elder Bednar highlighted the two ways in which these two groups held on to the rod of iron, with the first “clinging” to it and the second “holding fast” to it, and suggested that this was a key difference.  He wrote of the first group, “Even with faith, commitment, and the word of God, this group eventually was lost—perhaps because they only periodically read or studied or searched the scriptures. Clinging to the rod of iron suggests to me only occasional ‘bursts’ of study or irregular dipping rather than consistent, ongoing immersion in the word of God.”  Of the second group he commented, “The key phrase in this verse is continually holding fast to the rod of iron…. Perhaps this third group of people consistently read and studied and searched the scriptures.”  While “clinging” to the rod of iron seems like a good thing, what we need is not to grab it desperately from time to time but rather to calmly hold fast to it all the time.  This difference reminds me of a quote that President Oaks cited in a talk on steadily living the gospel, saying that what we need “is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.”  He further commented, “Some people live the gospel with ‘short, frenzied outbursts of emotion,’ followed by long periods of lapse or by performance that is intermittent or sputtering. What we need in living the gospel is ‘the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.’”  And so it goes with our study of the scriptures; we need not seek to read the whole standard works frenetically in a matter of a few days and then put them down for a long time; rather, we should continually hold fast to the word of God in a steady, daily devotion of scripture study.  As most secular students come to realize, the one night cram session for an exam is far less effective than the consistent preparation of smaller study sessions over a longer period.  And so it is with the more important study of the scriptures.  As President Eyring put it, “Great faith has a short shelf life”—we cannot store it up for long but we must “persist in studying the words of Christ in the scriptures and the teachings of living prophets” and “go back to the Book of Mormon and drink deeply and often.”  If we do that, then when challenges come we will not need to desperately grab for the iron rod to cling to it, for we will already be holding fast for the strength to see us through.