Day 96 Sherem's Eloquence: A Warning Against Deceptive Speech

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. Welcome to day 96 on our 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

We have finished Jacob chapter 5. We are moving into the last thoughts of Jacob here over the next couple of days. And isn't that crazy?

It seems like we blew through the Book of Jacob when compared to 1 and 2 Nephi. And in actuality, we did, but it is a shorter book. And we're actually getting to a stage in the Book of Mormon where it's going to feel like we are just warp speeding through the books here.

Because they do get small here for a second before we dive into Mosiah. Anyway, today on our journey, we are going to read Jacob 6, verse 6. We're going to finish that chapter and really finish Jacob's thoughts there.

We'll get to that in a second. And then we're also going to read Jacob chapter 7, verses 1 through 8. I think it's interesting because Jacob chapter 6 actually seems like Jacob's kind of wrapping things up and bearing his final testimony.

He's kind of given his final thoughts about Jacob chapter 5 and about calling his people to repentance a bit. And he seems to be giving a little bit of a testimony there. And then we get Jacob chapter 7.

Chapter 7 almost seems to be Jacob saying, oh, you know what? I was supposed to write the things that were super important and things that called people to Jesus Christ and I need to add this in there. And then we get this story about Sherem, who is someone that comes along and denies Christ exists.

And we get this interesting story with Sherem. And today's verse comes out of a little bit of that story. We're going to look at a description of Sherem here for just a second.

So our verse today is Jacob chapter 7, verse 4. And this is what it says, talking about this man named Sherem. "And he was learned that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people. Wherefore he could use much flattery and much power of speech according to the power of the devil." Now Sherem and Jacob are going to have a back and forth here inside this chapter.

But in terms of what this verse means to me and why I picked it today, I've been in the speaker world. I've been in the trainer world and the facilitator world. I've traveled around different places.

In fact, I've been to many different countries and been able to have the blessing of training and working with a lot of different people. I have to tell you that it is absolutely beware and a warning that Jacob puts this in here because there are those in the quote-unquote self-help world and there are those that have incredible speaking abilities that are learned. They have a perfect knowledge of the language of the people.

They use much flattery in today's terminology and much power of speech. I'm not going to go so far as to say that they use it according to the Power of the Devil. Where I do want to go instead is say that they don't always use it to encourage you to dive into your testimony of Jesus Christ.

So I'm not here to call anybody out in the self-help world or in the personal development world. What I am here to do is to say for me and mine, as we read Jacob chapter 7, I want to be aware that there are absolutely people in today's world, as Jacob saw fit to include this in the scriptures. He's saying to me, Allen, beware: there are those that are going to sound so incredible.

There are those that are going to sound so motivating and so inspiring and they may very well just take you away from your testimony of Jesus Christ. Jacob chapter 5 is so interesting that it comes into play before this, because again, I encourage you to go back to the roots of your testimony and make sure those are strong. And then pick and choose those other voices that you're going to listen to.

But stay with the voices of the prophets. Stay with the voices that come from Scripture and stay with the voice of the Lord. That's my warning.

I'll add with Jacob's warning as well. That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

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