Day 168 Condemned by Words, Works, and Thoughts

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.

My friends and family, there is a plan. That's the message over the next couple of days that Alma has to give to us. Welcome to day 168 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

Today you're going to be reading Alma chapter 12, verses 14 through 29, middle of the chapter there. And today is actually, it's been a while since we did this, but today kind of a part one of a thought, and then tomorrow we're going to finish that thought based on the words of Alma here, inside of his teachings. Our verse for today is going to come right on the front end of our reading as we read Alma chapter 12, verse 14.

And this is what Alma has to say, a bit of a warning for all of us: For our words will condemn us; yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us. And in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God, and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. This is a pretty dismal look of the future for all of us.

And this is what it looks like without a Savior and a plan of redemption. It makes me think about times when, if you ever had small children in your life, whatever that may be, whether it's just your own children or siblings, or whatever it may be, whenever a small child does something that maybe they were in another room and they did something they weren't supposed to be doing, right? The hand-in-the-cookie-jar type deal.

Or maybe they spilled something, or maybe something fell off the counter and it broke. It makes me think of kind of this scenario here. You go in and you see the child, and the child sitting there with that look on their face that, like it says here in the verse, right?

Like wishing that the mountains fall upon us to hide us from this presence. Or even sometimes, I can remember some times with my girls where they would do something and then they would go hide. They want to avoid being seen because of their actions, because of the choices that they made.

And I think what Alma is trying to get us to understand here is when we stand before the Lord, if we were to do so without a Savior and without a plan of redemption, or as he's talking to the people of Ammonihah here, if they were to do so without repentance in their lives, this is the situation that they will stand before the Lord with. Words, works, thoughts—all the things will condemn us and show the Lord how unholy we truly are. Now I know there is a plan of redemption, and I'm going to save the rest of those thoughts about that for tomorrow because there is a part two here.

Alma is only casting this vision on the front end to help the people of Ammonihah see the darkness, and then tomorrow as we talk about the other side of the coin, Alma is also going to cast the vision for the light that comes through the plan of redemption, ultimately through accepting our Savior Jesus Christ in our lives. But until then, stay in that lens and remember how important it is that we accept the Savior in all we do and seek for repentance in our lives. 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.