Day 218 Parental Counsel and the Plan of Mercy

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 218 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

We're going to have a bit of a two-part one here as we dive into Alma chapter 42. Today, you're going to read Alma chapter 42, verses 1 through 16. And our verse for today is going to be a little bit of a two-part one.

So let's get started. It has a great explanation of justice and mercy and why laws have punishments affixed. So I'm excited for you to dive into that.

It is a very doctrinal chapter, not much storytelling, more in the doctrine. But right at the beginning of this Alma chapter 42, verse 1, has kind of an interesting setting, and I want to dive into that today. It says, "And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind." The Bible says in the Book of Revelation that the sinner is to be put in a state of misery.

Now rather than going into the doctrinal approach, which is what the rest of the chapter is going to do, he's going to focus around justice and punishment to the sinner. The thing that stuck out to me here was actually Alma's approach to his son. This is his son that's been struggling in the gospel.

This is his son that we know has had some hiccups along the way and has committed some sins. And Alma is taking the time to sit down with him and counsel him and help him to understand gospel principles. And it made me think of a time, well, several times actually, with my own father.

I lost my father last year as he passed away and moved on to the next stage of the Plan of Salvation. And yet there are times in my life that I can distinctly remember him sitting down with me and counseling me. Sometimes it was directly related, like this one, to a question.

That is the nature of the Gospel of Jesus. Sometimes I would bring something to him and say, "Dad, I don't really think I understand this," and other times it would seem to kind of be perhaps his own insight to counsel that I needed to have in my life. And I treasure those moments and I'm grateful for his willingness as a parent to sit me down and to counsel with me.

Sometimes even that counsel being one of correction, to help me see where I was going astray. I'm going to talk a little bit in my decision-making. My friends, for those of you that are parents, take time to counsel with your children.

And for those of you that are children, take time to counsel with your parents. Dive into the gospel principles together. It's okay to have questions.

It's okay to wonder about things in the Gospel. And I think our pursuit of finding those answers helps us increase that savory salt a little bit as we seek to come to a knowledge for ourselves of the role that Jesus Christ plays in our lives through His Atonement. I am grateful to my father for his willingness to sit and counsel me, and I'm also grateful for Alma's willingness to counsel his sons, because it's something that we can look to and better understand the Plan of Salvation, or as it's referenced in this chapter, the Plan of Mercy 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.