Day 266 How to Savor the Good Old Days Today

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. Have you ever caught yourself saying, 'Ah, man, I miss the good old days'?

Welcome to Day 266 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Today, we're going to be reading Helaman chapter seven, verses 1 through 21. And inside of this, we're going to see Nephi, the son of Helaman.

Days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem that I could have joyed with him in the promised land. Then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity. And they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord.

And he continues for the next several verses. You'll want to read those and see his point of view. You know, basically as I read this here, I hear Nephi saying, 'Ah, I wish it was the good old days!' You know, the good old days when Nephi had such a wonderful experience with his brothers and they...

Wait a second. Did Nephi have such a great experience with his brothers? And this is the part that I want to bring into us today.

You know, when we reflect on the good old days or we find ourselves saying, 'I wish it would have been like this,' 'I wish I could still live back then,' we tend to remember the glory of the good old days and we tend to disregard the challenges and the struggles of those good old days. Nephi certainly had a righteous following, but he also certainly had some very intense, difficult times with his brothers, even getting to the point of verbal and physical abuse, tying him up, taking him prisoner, threatening his life. He had to develop his civilization with the sword, and his people had to defend themselves.

And so here's my idea with the good old days: When you find yourself stuck and you're like, 'Man, I just wish the good old days would come back around,' and you're just living in the past a little bit. I want to invite you to consider this question. What part of the good old days can we bring to today?

If it was such a great time in the good old days, what could you bring forward today? I have to give a shout out to my sisters here. My sisters are awesome at helping us remember the good old days through family traditions and activities together.

There is absolutely a pro and a con. There's an advantage and a disadvantage to every stage that you may be in as a sibling. I happen to be the youngest.

And so I have my three older sisters and then there's me. And one of the disadvantages of being the youngest is that I missed out on a lot of the older stuff. Three of my four grandparents, for example, had passed away before I was about 14 years old.

And so I grew up most of my developmental years, right, my teen years and on, I did not have grandparents there. And yet my sisters have done such a great job in bringing the best parts of my grandparents into our family traditions. And I encourage you, in those moments when you just look at the past and go, 'Man, everything in the past was awesome,' pause and say, 'What parts of the past were awesome?

And how can I bring those good parts—those good old days—how can I bring some forward to today so that we can encourage others to live the good days as well?' I know Nephi seems to kind of find his stride as he expresses his agony and his frustration in the moments and then turns and continues to preach the Lord Jesus Christ and continues to seek to have those repent and find the Lord again. My friends, the good old days can be here today as well. And we can have good new days too.

That I believe with all my heart. 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.