Honest and True

1 Nephi 4
Nephi goes into Jerusalem without a plan, but knowing the Lord will guide him in getting the plates as he had been commanded. He finds Laban in a drunken stupor which allows him to kill him, be guided to the plates by Laban's servant and return to his brothers and parents unharmed and successful.

We all know how miraculous this is for Nephi. He had the Spirit with him. He was successful. I was tripped up with the state of Laban for some reason this morning. Why did Laban have the plates in the first place? They were holy writ – indeed the fulness of the gospel was contained in them! What we know about Laban isn't exactly that he lived a righteous life. So why him? I would suggest that at one time, he may have been a righteous leader like many in the Book of Mormon who were evil and had the plates pass through their hands.

I read Ann Dibb's talk to the Young Women in May's Ensign this morning. She talked about being honest and true. As she focused on the word true, she mentioned the importance of being true to ones self. If we lie to ourselves, we are on a slippery slope to destruction. Hopefully, we learned truths as children, and as we obey those truths, we will be lead to more truth. If we choose to ignore those truths and forge our own path, we will become as Laban – evil in purpose and design. Laban's evilness caused him to have no control over his own appetites, which landed him in a drunken stupor and unable to defend himself against Nephi. It was a rather simple task for Nephi to accomplish his assignment at that point, and Laban's fate was sealed. What worldly appetites put us in harms' way?

I spoke with an old acquaintance yesterday and in catching up on her life discovered that her once stalwart husband in the gospel – a righteous priesthood holder – had compromised his standards and was now without his family, the church and moral moors in his life. What on earth happened? He was a good man! It is the same for him that it is for many of our once-righteous people. They took baby steps of dishonesty and in not being true to themselves. Standards that were set firm in their lives were compromised, and they landed themselves in a “drunken stupor” so to speak, being prey to the whiles of Satan, of the world and eventual spiritual ruin.

So how does this apply to me? What can I learn from Laban? It is critical to stand strong and true in my beliefs, to continue to keep my covenants at all costs and never compromise even on the smallest things those commandments and covenants I have promised to keep.