1 Nephi 3

To me the beginning of chapter 3 is a lesson in How God Works and the importance of obedience.

Nephi was very close to God. In chapter 3 he had just finished "speaking with the Lord", yet the Lord told Lehi, not Nephi, that he (Nephi) needed to go back to Jerusalem for the plates.

Obviously, Nephi was capable of receiving revelation. He was clearly worthy of receiving revelation, and he surely was available to receive the revelation, but Lehi- the father of the family, the prophet, was the one who the Lord went to to give commandments for the sons.

We are allowed and encouraged to pray for direction and guidance in our lives. We can expect an answer to our prayers. We can know that God loves us and wants us to talk to Him. But when there is something globally important, something beyond our personal guidance, God speaks to the prophet, and then it's up to us to decide whether we will follow the words of the prophet. God WILL tell us in our private revelation whether what the prophet is saying came from Him, but the lesson is that God speaks to prophets, who then tell us God's will.

We have opportunities to hear what God has told our prophets all the time. He speaks to them now, and those words are just as relevant to our lives as Lehi's words to Nephi and his brothers were then.

It's also obvious that what the Lord was commanding them was far from convenient and the timing seemed horrible. Any intelligent person (who did not have a true testimony that Lehi was a prophet of God), would question the logic, reason, and timing of that commandment. Sometimes, especially if our faith is weak, we need to pray to know that what the prophet says really did come from God, but we can know, and we can follow Nephi's example to OBEY! That doesn't mean it will be easy, but we will be blessed if we just OBEY.

1 Nephi Chapter 2, v 16-24

At the end of chapter 2, Nephi admits although he was 'exceedingly young',  he had 'great desires' to know the mysteries of God. Then, because he acts on those great desires the rest of the chapter tells the blessings God promises him.

I think one of the most important things we need to work on in ourselves is to study and analyze what our greatest desires are. Sometimes we say, and we think we know that our greatest desires are of an eternal nature, and worthy desires, but our actions show the opposite. We sometimes think, I really want to know the scriptures; I really want to understand how God thinks, what He thinks of me, or, I want to be a kind, loving person who gives service freely. Then we go about our days and scriptures get missed and visits or phone calls never get done.

Nephi is a great example to us, even when he was 'exceedingly young'. I love the scriptures. I love the inspiration I receive when I am reading or studying them, but I am easily distracted from that study. I want to know the scriptures. I want to be able to find a specific scripture easily and quickly. These verses are key in remembering what our great desires should be and remembering to act on them quickly, frequently, and consistently.