Lay Hold Upon the Word of God

In Lehi’s vision of the tree of life, two groups of people are described in very similar words. Lehi said this of the first group: “And it came to pass that 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.” Nephi summarized the second group this way: “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.” Looking just at these verses, much is the same: both groups pressed forward, caught hold to the end of the iron rod, pressed forward again (mentioned twice in both), held on to the iron rod some more, and came to and partook of the fruit of the tree. The only difference perhaps of significance that I see is that the first group was “clinging to the rod of iron” and the second was “continually holding fast to the rod of iron”, but I’m not sure those are really meant to express anything substantially different. Rather, in my mind the only real difference is what happened after this to the first group: “And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed” (1 Nephi 8:24-25, 30). The fact that they became ashamed because of the mocking of those in the great and spacious building ultimately led to their departure from the tree and falling away into forbidden paths. The second group, on the other hand, did not become ashamed (or at least the account does not tell us this). I believe the fact that these two groups were so similarly described is a warning to us that no matter how much we have clung to the iron rod to get where we are now, if we let the mocking of the world lead us to be ashamed, we too will fall away.

                I used to have in my mind that if I could just help my children make it to the temple, where they could make covenants with the Lord and ultimately be sealed to an eternal companion, all would be well for them. But now after watching many who, despite having reached that point, still have left the Savior and fallen away into forbidden paths, I realize that even that is no guarantee of spiritual safety. We must cling to the rod forever; we must continually hold fast to the word of God until the very end; we must keep our eyes fixed on the fruit of the tree of life—the Son of God Himself—without ever looking away to entertain the scoffing of those in the great and spacious building. Mormon put it so beautifully in these words: “Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out” (Helaman 3:29-30). If we want to make it through the snares and cunning and wiles of the adversary and be protected from the gulf of misery seeking to capture us, we must “lay hold upon the word of God.” Surely here Mormon was referring to Lehi’s vision, and he knew that the only path to spiritual safety was to constantly cling to the word of God, a phrase intended both to indicate the holy scriptures and the Son of God Himself. As we hold on to Him by treasuring up His word every day, we will not be overcome, and no matter how the world mocks we will not be ashamed.