#BOMTC Day 3, April 9~1 Nephi 7-10 or Pages 13-18: Desirous that my Family Should Partake

Click on this graphic to begin reading 1 Nephi 7-10

Today’s reading from 1 Nephi 7-10 reminds me of the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham. In this case however, it is the patriarch-prophet Lehi who is desirous that his family partake of the fruit of the tree of life. He experiences the sweetness and joy of the fruit of the tree of life and he wants his loved ones to “partake of the fruit” and experience the same happiness that it brought him.

This is the same reason that I put so much effort into creating The Book of Mormon Translation Challenge and all of the resources associated with it. I love the Book of Mormon! Every time that I read it I feel the same way that Lehi describes the fruit from the tree of life: “desirable to make one happy”, “sweet”, “filled my soul with exceedingly great joy”, “desirable”. As Another Testament of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon brings us to The Tree of Life–Jesus Christ. HE is what makes the book a source of happiness, sweetness, joy, etc. My desire, like Lehi’s, is that my family and friends will “come… and partake of the fruit which is desirable above all other fruit”. By making the Book of Mormon a regular part of daily scripture study they can more fully come unto Christ, the source of all goodness.

So now I play the same roll as “Sam I Am”, but instead of Green Eggs and Ham I invite people to try reading the Book of Mormon. “You do not like [it]. SO you say. Try [it]! Try [it]! And you may. Try [it] and you may, I say.” WILL YOU TRY IT???

Here is just one thing that you will learn to love about the Book of Mormon if you try it: These pages testify over and over of the Messiah! The Messiah is at first seen in Lehi’s vision as a Tree, the Tree of Life (1 Nephi 8:10). Lehi is well aware of the Messiah’s ministry and mission (1 Nephi 1:9,19) even before this time. Lehi has a vision in which the Tree of Life–the Messiah–is the focal point. Everything is taught in relation to the Tree. It is the point of reference for all other things in the vision (1 Nephi 8:13,19,20,21,22,24,30). His description of the fruit that the Tree bears is quite descriptive of what the Messiah offers all who will come unto Him (1 Nephi 8:10-12). Lehi’s only desire after partaking of the Messiah’s fruit is to share it with his family (1 Nephi 8:12,15).
After he relates the vision of the Tree of Life (Messiah) to his family, he testifies with great clarity and power to them of the coming of the Messiah and the events surrounding His ministry and mission (Note the use of the word Messiah in 1 Ne 10:4,5,6,7,9,10,11,14,17).
Terms such as “Messiah”, referring to Jesus Christ”, are used every 1.7 verses in the Book of Mormon (every 1.3 in 1 Nephi!). It is indeed “Another Testament of Jesus Christ”!

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