Act In Faith- 1 Nephi 18:24

1 Nephi 18:24

Act In Faith

What

 24 And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seed sinto the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.

1- They went to work

2- They planted ALL their seeds

3- The seeds grew

4- They were blessed in abundance or with plenty of food and other things.

Why

They were blessed because they had faith enough to work and prepare the ground and to plant everything they had. They didn't hold back anything. They put their all into it and they were blessed because of it.

Pattern

Ecclesiastes 3:2

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Alma 33:1

1 Now after Alma had spoken these words, they sent forth unto him desiring to know whether they should believe in one God, that they might obtain this fruit of which he had spoken, or how they should plant the seed, or the word of which he had spoken, which he said must be planted in their hearts; or in what manner they should begin to exercise their faith.

Doctrine and Covenants 101:101

101 They shall build, and another shall not inherit it; they shall plant vineyards, and they shall eat the fruit thereof. Even so. Amen.

Genesis 2:8

8 ¶And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Alma 32:

 32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.

 33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.

Christ

Romans 6:

 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Conference 10/1995 Henry B. Eyring

To touch A Life With Faith

“And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:5–6).

You will not be surprised that the Lord responded by speaking of a seed. The first thing to know about how faith in him increases is to think of its growth like that of a tree. You remember how Alma used that illustration. The seed is the word of God. It must be planted in the heart of the person you serve and whose faith you want to see increase. He described what must happen this way:

“Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

“Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea” (Alma 32:28–

Just as soil needs preparation for a seed, so does a human heart for the word of God to take root. Before he told the people to plant the seed, Alma told them that their hearts were prepared. They had been persecuted and cast out of their churches.

Alma with his love and the circumstances of their lives, which led them to be humble, had prepared them. They were then ready to hear the word of God. If they chose to plant it in their hearts, the growth in their souls would surely follow, and that would increase their faith.

It’s not hard to see from these examples what you can do to touch someone’s life with faith. To begin with, you recognize that what people choose to do, and what the Savior has done, will matter more than what you do. But there are things you can do to make it more likely that they will make the choices that will move them toward eternal life.

You know first of all that to plant the seed, they must do more than hear the word of God. They have to try it by keeping commandments. The Lord said it this way:

“Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:16–17).

It won’t be enough for them simply to listen to the word of God. They must choose to keep commandments because they feel at least a beginning desire to know the will of our Heavenly Father and submit to it. That feeling of surrender is not likely to come unless they experience some feeling of being loved and some value in their being meek and lowly of heart.

You won’t very often have the remarkable result that Aaron had. After hearing the word of God taught that way, in what the scriptures sometimes call the plan of happiness, the old king said that he would give whatever he had to root the wickedness out of him and have eternal life. When Aaron told him to cry to God in prayer for forgiveness, the king bowed down on the spot. The seed was planted. He was doing the will of God (see Alma 22:15–18).

Apply

If we act in faith, we will be blessed. The harvest may not come in October but it will come. Nephi trusted in the Lord enough that he was fully vested. He gave his all. He worked hard and he and his people were blessed in abundance.

If we follow the Lord's teachings and prepare and work then we will reap the rewards in due time. We will one day reach our “promised land” and there receive the fruits of our labors.

Hymns

263 Go Forth With Faith

Children

96-Faith