Reading 1 Nephi 1. I'm really intrigued by the behavior of Lehi in this chapter. He is awed and amazed by the visions he is shown by the Lord, and in particular Nephi recounts that he is shown the destruction of Jerusalem, and from what I can tell at no point is Lehi told that "this is their fate if they choose not to repent". This is to say that Lehi saw the future, and destruction was to be how that story ended.
However, the next verses immediately begin outlining the things Lehi is doing to let the people of Jerusalem know of his information so they could repent, and perhaps change the fate that he'd already seen from the hand of the Lord.
I wonder why he did that - it seems the fate was sealed. I have been thinking about the efforts we are asked to expend on the lost cause, or what may be perceived as lost cause. I have just a couple thoughts as I fight sleep here. First is that our job is our job, and it's not our responsibility to determine our job is no longer needed. I am a big proponent of doing our duty, and powering through unless the spirit clearly instructs otherwise.
Second thought is that we are easily sucked into the idea that our service is for those we serve, and we should regulate our serviced base on who actually wants or needs it, or who is likely to make a change in their lives. The reality is that this is for the person serving. I have no doubt that Lehi had something he had to learn about himself that would only come through fulfilling his duty, no matter how hopeful or hopeless the people of Jerusalem were. Such should be the case in our service.
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