Disclaimer

All the text on this blog is personal testimony. It by no way represents the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its doctrine. Rather it represents the personal conviction of myself and my dad who are members of that Church. We are firm believers that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds the fullness of God's revealed truth.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Spiritual and Historical Records

Nephi is commanded to keep 2 sets of records. One set contains primarily an historical record of his people, and the other is a spiritual record (1 Nephi 6, 9). As we read the Book of Mormon, we are reading from the spiritual record. One of the reasons why Nephi was commanded to do this, perhaps, was to clearly separate the profane from the spiritual, so he could focus his mind on the Lord’s dealings and help him recognize the Lord’s hand in his life. If we write a journal that simply records our daily activities, we may not recognize the Lord’s hand in our life. This exercise that the Lord commanded Nephi to do helped him channel his thoughts on spiritual things. It is important to also have an historical record, but it should be separate from the spiritual.

But Nephi’s writings were not simply for his benefit. We know that The Book of Mormon was written primarily for our day. But it appears that Nephi’s writings were also used among his own people. In 1 Nephi 19:18, he says:

And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people, that perhaps I might persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer. Wherefore, I speak unto all the house of Israel, if it so be that they should obtain these things.

Note that he is writing to “my people” (that is, his people). I suppose this could have 3 meanings: One is to the people of his own day. Another is to the Lamanites of his time. And the other is to all the house of Israel. This must refer to modern times, which also includes the remnants of the Lamanites in our day,

I believe it is also important for us to separate our day to day, mundane activities from the spiritual events which show the Lord’s hand in our lives. We should, in effect, keep 2 sets of records, keeping in mind that the purposes are:

1. To help us focus on spiritual things;
2. To teach those in our present circle of influence - family, friends and perhaps even those who do not agree with us (our own “Lamanites”);
3. To teach generations to come.