Day 224 The Promised Land's Cursing and Blessing

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 224 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Today you're going to be reading Alma chapter 45, verses 1 through 18.

And at this point, we're going to transition from Alma's records to Helaman's records. The Book of Mormon says Alma officially passes them over to his son, and Helaman begins the records of the wars and contentions of his people. We get an interesting one inside of our verse for today here.

It's almost a redundancy of sorts, and yet something that's interesting about it is Alma's direction to record it but keep it hidden until a certain time comes forth. We're going to read Alma chapter 45, verse 16: "And he said: Thus saith the Lord God: Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land." And we're going to go through a very interesting passage here. This is from Psalm 137.

Here's the first verse. And as I have said, so shall it be. For this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land.

For the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. This one's kind of interesting because, if you remember, all the way back at the beginning, Nephi and Lehi reference this as the Promised Land, and it is a land that has a covenant associated with it. We believe that the American continent holds a covenant with it.

Alma sees it here, and inside of this he's prophesying that his very people, the Nephites, 400 years after the coming of Jesus Christ, are going to go down this realm of wicked choices and idolatry and lasciviousness and all the things. And yet there's a timeless nature to this prophecy that I think is really interesting. This is every nation, kindred, tongue, people unto the destruction, which do wickedly.

My friends, the simple message I have for you today is: what role are you playing in the Promised Land? Are you doing your best to live for righteousness' sake? Are you doing your best to keep your covenants and follow the commandments?

I think it's interesting for us to remember in today's world, especially with all the chaos happening, that there is a promise associated with a blessing and a cursing: live the commandments, receive the blessing. I believe the Lord can bless us as we do our best to follow him, to live the commandments, and to keep our covenants. I hope that you and I, together with all of those that are striving to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, can be people who bring blessings to the land here rather than those who bring its destruction through the wickedness that they choose.

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.