Day 24 Sorrow for Those Who Stray

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. You know, this is day 24.

I want you to just take a second, take a deep breath in here. Tell yourself, you know what? Today's a great day.

Say it. Tell yourself that today is a great day. Thank you for joining me here on day 24.

If you are following along on our 365-day journey, you're coming to 1 Nephi chapter 15, verses 1 through 19. This verse today that I chose is kind of a hard verse. Nephi just had this vision we've been talking about for several days.

He has seen the destruction of his own people in the future and it's kind of weighing heavy on him just a little bit. And the verse I chose is kind of an odd one, a little bit, but I think you get what I have to say. So let's go to verse 5.

And this is what Nephi says in verse 5: "And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions; For I considered that mine afflictions were great above all because of the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall." Wow, can you imagine being blessed with a vision but then seeing your own posterity, your own people, your own lineage fall to destruction? That's heavy and that's difficult and I can't even imagine seeing that at that level that Nephi saw. But you know, it got me thinking, I've seen times in my life where I've watched loved ones choose a different path, and watch them make choices that take them further from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And I think on a very micro level, I feel that sorrow that Nephi felt, and sadness. That's difficult to watch. It's difficult to be a part of, especially when those loved ones are close to us, family members, friends.

And the reason that I shared this one today is because Nephi, in the verses that follow, you know, this is just a single verse, single thought podcast, right? That's the way we designed it here. Nephi's gonna have several verses following verse five that help remind him that the blessings of the Lord come to those that are faithful, even if those blessings are not immediately seen in our lives.

So I encourage you in the reading today to go through some of these other verses. Yes, the sadness that Nephi feels is there. It is real.

And Nephi also experiences through the love of God the blessings that he will see come into the lives of those further down his lineage. And I'd encourage you to take time to reflect on what that could mean for you in your life. If you've got loved ones that you've watched make different choices and ultimately take them away from the love of God and away from the gospel in their lives.

It also made me reflect a little bit on a mission experience that I had at a time when my companion and I were teaching a man and his family that were very, very interested and so engaged in learning. They had committed to be baptized and accept Jesus Christ in their lives. And to this day, I have no idea what changed, but we went one day.

He was not bitter or angry, but he simply was set that he could not change from the ways of the Mongolian people and the beliefs of Chinggis Khan or Genghis Khan, as Americans typically know him. They are a very deeply cultural people, and he felt that leaving that culture and making choices different to that culture was in some way betraying the very nature of his ancestry. And I remember how difficult it was to see a man that wanted so badly to embrace Jesus Christ in his life have internal struggle on what ultimately that was.

It was hard for us. It was hard for him. We remained good friends with him and his family.

And yet he decided that moving forward and drawing closer to Christ was not the priority of his life or his family's life. I seek to still hold the faith that at some point he'll feel that love of God in his life and have a desire to draw closer to it. Just as I think some of you are holding on to that for your own family or friends.

So I hope that today you find some comfort and solace, a little bit, in the verses and the reading today for those that are struggling watching others around them make choices that are outside of living the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's all I have for today. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

Keep it small, my friends, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow. I hope you are too.