Day 124 Wounded for Us: A Personal Savior

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 am cheering for your every success. You know, I'm not the only one cheering for your every success, by the way. I think that our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, cheer for our successes all the time.

Whether we are open to their cheering or not, I think they're there saying, 'Come on, Allen, you got this.' And I think they're there regularly hoping that we can figure out how to accomplish the things that we want to accomplish in our lives. Welcome to Day 124 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon. Today is a meaningful one for me.

It's a chapter of Isaiah that I think I can actually understand and resonate with. Our readings today are going to come from Mosiah chapter 13, verses 31 to 35. You finish up that chapter.

And then we're going to get a special chapter here in Mosiah chapter 14. Abinadi is going to just quote directly from Isaiah as he's teaching these priests of King Noah and King Noah himself. He's going to use Isaiah's words directly and try to teach them.

And I think this is perhaps one of the most personal—all of these are illustrations of the Savior as our Messiah—that scripture holds, at least for me. And so, the scripture today was really hard to pick because I think this chapter is amazing in a description of the role that Jesus Christ plays in our lives. But I had to pick a verse, and so this is where it landed, and then we'll share some thoughts afterwards.

It's going to be Mosiah 14, verse 5. It says, 'But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.' I hope that through the Book of Mormon this year, your relationship with Jesus Christ is becoming personal or more personal.

Well, this scripture here and really this chapter has me reflecting on a time when one of our stake presidents came to visit, and he shared with us—he was visiting in our elders quorum—and he shared with us a concern that he had, and this is just through his lens of the world. He said, 'I come to elders quorums around the stake and I hear elders share incredible experiences from their mission, miraculous events, amazing missionary stories.' And he said, 'What concerns me is I wonder why those elders don't—what has happened in their lives that has not perhaps opened the door to continue on a journey and path of miraculous events and personal experiences with the Savior?' I think Mosiah chapter 14 is an opportunity to think deeper into your relationship with the Savior. I know for me, I'm trying regularly to develop a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I want to know Him as a friend, a confidant, a brother. I want to invite Him in my life and I want that influence to be in my life now even more than when I wanted it as a missionary. And so it's given me some interesting thoughts—I'll just put it that way.

It's given me some interesting thoughts to reflect on and consider how often I have personal experiences with the Savior. Sometimes those aren't to be shared publicly, and that's okay. But I hope that as you're reading through the Book of Mormon at this time that your relationship with the Savior is becoming more personal than it ever has been.

I think even at that stage—to go back to the beginning of the episodes that I always start—I think at that stage we truly can feel the Savior cheering for our every success in all that we do. I am grateful to him for being wounded for my transgressions and bruised for my iniquities. And I am grateful that with his stripes I can be healed and that you have that same opportunity to experience the Savior in your life. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.