What a powerful tool of righteousness! What a wonderful secret! Lehi gives us the secret to successfully navigating life's journey. It doesn't matter if there are mists of darkness, vapors of darkness, windstorms, rocky roads, or rivers of filthy waters. If one remembers to hold onto the word of God as if it were one's spiritual lifeline, the promise of eternal life is given.
Ezra Taft Benson
"We must engage in activities that bring spiritual power. I speak of such activities as immersing ourselves in the scriptures. There is a power that flows into our lives when we read and study the scriptures on a daily basis that cannot be found in any other way." (1987-1988 BYU Devotional and Fireside Speeches,pp. 53-54, as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p.31)
Merrill J. Bateman
"A casual, infrequent exposure to the scriptures will generally not open the door to the whisperings of the Spirit or provide insights…There are certain blessings obtained when one searches the scriptures. As a person studies the words of the Lord and obeys them, he or she draws closer to the Savior and obtains a greater desire to live a righteous life. The power to resist temptation increases, and spiritual weaknesses are overcome. Spiritual wounds are healed….According to the vision, the only way to reach the tree and become a permanent partaker of the fruit was to 'continually [hold] fast' to the iron rod (1 Nephi 8:30). What was the rod of iron? Nephi defined it as the 'word of God'—the words of the living prophets and the scriptures which point people to Christ. Nephi further stated that those who hearkened and held fast to the word of God would never perish (See 1 Nephi 15:24)…Holding fast to the iron rod builds faith in Christ and his work….President Benson, in the April 1986 general conference, expressed these thoughts: 'However diligent we may be in other areas, certain blessings are to be found only in the scriptures, only in coming to the word of the Lord and holding fast to it as we make our way through the mists of darkness to the tree of life.'" (Ensign, May 1986, p. 82, as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p.30)
George Q. Cannon
"Though impenetrable darkness should surround us, we ought, as a people and as individuals, to cling to that truth which the Lord has revealed concerning this work; cling to the Priesthood; cling to the 'rod of iron,' which is the word of God, and the word of God comes through the Priesthood. Let each one say: 'I will serve God, no matter what happens; I will cling to His Priesthood, which God has put in His Church to govern it, no matter what the consequences may be.' That is the integrity we should cherish, and which we should teach to our children. Unless we do, we will never accomplish that which God designs for us." (Collected Discourses 1886-1898, vol. 5, edited by Brian H. Stuy, George Q. Cannon, April 5, 1897)