Mosiah 1

In verse 2 it talks about how King Benjamin had his sons taught in the languages of his fathers so they would be men of understanding. It strikes me that is the point of education. Even if I never have a career other than being a mother, or “do anything” with sociology degree, what I gained was a deeper understanding of the world and an increased ability to understand the ideas of others. And that in itself is a huge blessing. It also makes it feel important for me to keep working on learning Spanish, so I can understand, and for my kids to learn Spanish as well.

It’s also interesting that he didn’t just teach them these things in addition to religious learning, but it was all to know and understand the mysteries of God. King Benjamin kept that eternal perspective in everything he did. Do I?

I love the illustration of how important the scriptures are to help us remember what we know. King Benjamin said that even the Nephites would be just like the Lamenites if they hadn’t had the scriptures with them, and read them and used them and studied them. I know from my own experience it is so easy to get distracted by the unimportant things in the world when you don’t’ take time to immerse yourself in the word of God. Take that precious gift every day and use it to REMEMEBER.

I never realized before that verse 13 is the old king talking to the new king about how to fulfill his responsibility to keep the people safe. 

It was a huge responsibility the Nephite kings had at this point, to be in charge of all the temporal affairs of the kingdom, including wars, and also the plates and also the Church. That is a heavy weight to bare!