Eric Poulin

Posts Tagged ‘temporary pleasure’

1 Nephi 17:5-7

...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. Read the rest of this entry »