Picking Fruit From a Fallen Position

Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life gives insight to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There are many choices represented in this vision. There are those who never commence in the path to the tree, those who feel their way toward the great and spacious building, those who are diverted along the path, those who partake of the fruit and then become ashamed, and those who "press forward" and partake of the mercies and love of Jesus.

Some of these groups are easy to identify, such as those "feeling their way towards that great and spacious building," representing those who are pursuing only natural feelings and carnal appetite.

Upon my last reading of the Book of Mormon, I was impressed with those who stuck with the iron rod and actually made it to feast at the table of the Lord. The journey was not so apparent as with some of the other groups.

One particular verse grabbed my attention:

"But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree" (1 Nephi 8: 30).

In my youth I had a summer job, for two or three summers, picking cherries. We used a ladder to reach the upper branches, and stood on the ground to pick the low hanging fruit. We always tried to reach as high as possible and stood on tippy toes to reach the fruit.

That's why I was amazed at the people in this vision who picked fruit from an unlikely position. The verse said they "fell down" to partake of the fruit. This defies everything I ever learned about fruit picking. I never was able to pick cherries crawling on my belly. But after years of groveling in the dust, I did eventually learn something about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

In this process of trying to hold fast and keep pressing forward, we are going to encounter resistance. And just how much of this can I do and take credit for? In my own arrogant way I felt self-sufficient and thought I could make it on my own merits. I should have kept reading in the Book of Mormon to find "there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise" (2 Nephi 2: 8).

So the Lord gave me a mortal weakness, according to the flesh (actually He gave me a long list of them), just as He promises even later in the Book of Mormon, when He says, "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble" (Ether 12: 27).

So He gave me tendency toward a disease, which I quickly acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2: 26-27). And that disease was alcoholism and addiction. Even with this I thought I could press forward and do it my way. But I eventually hit bottom and fell hopelessly on the ground.

I didn't realize this was a good position to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. Had I studied the Book of Mormon more carefully I would have seen that the prostrate position was a good one to receive the tender mercies of the Lord.

Here are a couple of related passages:

"And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

"O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day" (Alma 22: 17-18).

And this one: 

"Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord" (Alma 24: 21).

I had to fall down in the depths of humility and turn to God to have any chance of standing on my own two feet. And thus it is with the best fruits He has to offer. We have to grapple with life's challenges, whether addiction, sickness, financial crisis, or just plain old sin, and find out we really can't do it alone. Then we "fall down" and partake of the fruit of the Atonement--fruit having the capacity "to make one happy" (1 Nephi 8: 10). It is by pleading with God for help, healing, and wholeness that we are "encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" (2 Nephi 1: 15).