...we called {the land} Bountfiful, because of its much fruit
“And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.
And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.
And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: Arise, and get thee into the mountain. And it came to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain, and cried unto the Lord.”
More than 8 years of struggling in the wilderness, starving at times, barely subsiding on the land, and more particularly, having little to no fruit because they were traveling through a desert. No wonder they are thrilled to arrive at the sea. Precious water! Trees that bear fruit!
To put it into perspective, they probably still had it better back in Jerusalem, but by this time any hopes of returning had long past. This land was truly a Bounteous land for them, providing some level of comfort from their long journey. However, this was not the promised land. They had to move on, perhaps through more or worse trials. It would have been very tempting for them to just stay put, especially given the fact that they had run out of land to walk on.
Many of us, on our journey’s through life also arrive at temporary pleasures. Some of us try to stay at the temporary pleasures too long (or even forever). Without the fore-sight of what is in store for us, its difficult, if not impossible, to judge if our journey has ended, or if worse trials lay ahead. Its temping to settle for some measure of comfort, but often when we do this we find these small comforts are taken from us in short order, or we find ourselves wondering what could lie ahead. Could the grass really be greener on the other side? The Lord will always guide us if we are in tune. That guidance sometimes comes in the form of opportunities that we can take. In Nephi’s case it was a commandment and a work project for preparation. Whatever the way, we must be willing to leave the small comforts we have to both serve, and hopefully to gain an even greater reward.
Sometimes that reward will be temporal, such as in Nephi’s case. The promised land was way better that Bountiful. Sometimes the reward will be eternal. Either way, if we are willing to make changes as opportunities arise, we are in a better place both spiritually and temporally.
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