The single named Nephi

If you want a new reading of the Book of Mormon, try reading in the Old Testament first.  Take it to the next level by reading the Old Testament in chronological order.

That’s what I did.  Once I got to the point just before the Babylonians trash Jerusalem, I jumped to the Book of Mormon.

What a difference that made!  I expected it would add some context, but I really had no idea how much it would change my experience with the Book of Mormon.

Nephi admits things were bad.  But Nephi doesn’t go into any real details on the wickedness of the people like the writers in the Old Testament do.  It helps to know the specifics.

Violence against one prophet named Lehi is one thing.  But violence again and again against anyone who will stand and speak the truth is something else entirely.  In addition, Nephi doesn’t mention the burning sacrifice of children to Molech.  And don’t get me started about Baal worship.

Knowing that context changes everything when you read about Nephi telling his brothers that they're just like the people in Jerusalem.

Getting specific

Nephi was an awesome single adult

This context changes our perception of Nephi as an example of faithfulness.  Nephi did and said some really cool things that get quoted a lot.  And it all started while he was single.

The record we have of Nephi shows us a young man who transcends all of the mind games LDS singles often play.  As we discussed last week, the meaning we ascribe to being single is all mind games.

Because Nephi doesn’t get married until 1 Nephi 16, everything that took place in the first 15 chapters of his record occurred while Nephi was single.

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Name them one by one

What did Nephi accomplish while he was single?

• Nephi gains a testimony that his father’s teachings are true.
  
• Nephi responds to his father in faith with one of the most quoted verses in all of the Book of Mormon, the ever popular 1 Nephi 3:7.  How many millions have been influenced by this particular example of faith?  Guess what?  He did this while he was single!
  
• Nephi leads his brothers in returning to Jerusalem to secure the plates of brass.  This is no small task, and he’s single every step of the way.
• Nephi leads his brothers back to Jerusalem a second time to convince Ishmael and his family to join their wilderness trek.  He probably has some association with his future wife here, but he’s still single.
• Nephi is bound by his brothers and left to die but exerts so much strength after praying in faith that he not only frees himself but also witnesses his brothers pleading with him for forgiveness.  Yep, he’s still single through all this.
• Nephi has his own vision of his father’s vision of the tree of life and then has glorious visions of his own on a par with John the Revelator.  Talk about a spiritual powerhouse!  And he was single for every moment of it.
  

The takeaway

Nephi lived in some pretty bad times.  But he also didn’t let what he or anyone else thought of his marital status stand in the way of maintaining the proper focus.

When we singles focus on what we don’t have, we impede ourselves from achieving our full potential.  Our focus will become our reality, and so we need to focus first on what is most important.

This doesn’t mean we ignore marriage.  It just means we don’t focus on it so much that it becomes an obsession.  Instead we focus on what we can do in the moment we have.

Let's follow the awesome example of the single named Nephi.  The Lord will lead each one of us along as He led Nephi if we continue in faithfulness to Him as did Nephi.