3 And after I had made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates; and that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord….
5 And an account of my making these plates shall be given hereafter; and then, behold, I proceed according to that which I have spoken; and this I do that the more sacred things may be kept for the knowledge of my people.
6 Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred….
Priorities within priorities. Nephi had already written a history of his family, detailing the significant events associated with their journey through the wilderness. In that history, he had included his father’s prophecies and his own prophecies. He was selective: he didn’t waste time and energy including content unless he considered it to be “sacred” and of value to future generations. Now, he receives a commandment to create a new set of plates and to only write the “more sacred things” from that other record. So, he needs to prioritize again, this time with more stringent criteria.
I think there is a practical lesson here. How often have I reduced my list of activities to the essential tasks, only to find that the list still exceeds the available time? In that situation, I need to follow the example of Nephi, prioritize my essential activities into “more essential” and “less essential,” and let the less essential ones go. Prioritization is contextual, and even important things must give way to more important ones when they don’t fit within our current constraints.
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