Day 281 Christ's Birth Announced: Prophecy Fulfilled

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 and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours. Welcome to day 281 on our 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

You heard that right. I didn't get it wrong. Doesn't matter when you listen to this episode.

A very Merry Christmas in your life. Indeed, today you're going to be reading 3 Nephi chapter 1, verses 1 through 16. Let's get through just a little bit of administrative stuff and then let's get into our verse for the day and the special Christmas message.

In 3 Nephi chapter 1 we find out that Nephi, who is the son of Helaman, son of Helaman, son of Alma, son of Alma, right? That line, that Nephi just decides that he's going to head out and he takes off and hands all the records over to his son, Nephi. So we have another Nephi here, and it's going to be the Nephi that's going to see Christ come into his world.

And so Nephi now has the plates, son of Nephi. And there comes a time where the prophecies of Samuel are going to be tested by those that don't believe. And they set a specific date to kill all the believers.

If that day that we talked about before, the day and the night and the day that's all lit up, if that doesn't come, then these believers are going to be put to death, and it sends Nephi to his knees. And then we get this beautiful Christmas message directly from the Lord. In 3 Nephi 1:13, the Lord responds directly to Nephi's prayer and says, 'Lift up your head and be of good cheer, for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.' What an amazing moment for Nephi here to get direct revelation from the Lord.

And I love this because this is a truly authentic Book of Mormon moment here. We get the Lord announcing his own entry into the earth. Here he is letting a prophet know that he is about to be born.

And our Christmas story that we have, our traditional one as beautiful as it is, is this Christmas story of the child Christ, right? This newborn babe in a manger. We have all of these awesome traditions around that Christmas story and yet here we have one truly authentic to the Book of Mormon where the voice of the Lord comes and announces his own descension into the world to come forth as our Savior.

And then this tail end here, I love this piece here, to fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. The Lord has prophets on the earth and those prophets tell us what the Lord wants us to know. I love this because it's an opportunity for me to dive into the prophets of old, whether it's through scripture, in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon, in these areas that we can go dive into.

We're going to dive into and also dive into modern day prophets and apostles and hear their word, whether it's through general conference or a study in past general conferences or the prophets that have walked the earth. This is such a Christmas moment for me, and it's a beautiful opportunity to remember that Christmas regardless of what it looks like is about the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the earth. And it's an opportunity for all of us to rejoice that he has come.

It was real. This is not anecdotal. This is not a story to teach a lesson.

This is a real event. I believe it with all my heart and I rejoice in it. Merry Christmas to you.

Merry Christmas to your family. I hope that this 3 Nephi 1 verse is something you can look back on and see a little bit different of the Christmas story that we are traditionally used to. 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, I hope you are too.