Day 297 The Salt of the Earth: Preservation and Permanence

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. Today, it's preservation and permanence.

Welcome to day 297. We are so close to 300 on our 365-day journey to the Book of Mormon together. Today, we're going to be reading 3 Nephi chapter 12, verses 1 through 16.

This should be very familiar to those of you that have read the New Testament, specifically inside of Matthew, as we get here some very, very familiar phrases from the teachings of Jesus. He would in Jerusalem give the Sermon on the Mount, and here we refer to him as the Beatitudes. So you're going to be diving into those today.

And then we get our verse for today, which should sound very, very familiar because at the beginning of Savory Salt episodes, I always start with Matthew 5:13. Today our verse is 3 Nephi 12:13. It says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth.

But if the salt shall lose its savor, wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Now here is our savory salt verse, and you notice that the only footnotes available in this verse are salt, and there are several references here.

In fact, you see that this reference to savory salt comes in Matthew. It also comes again in Doctrine and Covenants section 101. But there is also a verse that's interesting, worth catching, and that's in 2 Chronicles.

It talks about a covenant of salt between the Lord and David. And this is really interesting because in ancient times, salt was a symbol of preservation and permanence. I want you to think into that and see what that might mean for you.

As we become savory salt, the salt of the earth, and the covenants that we make with the Lord, we receive from the Lord preservation. And how long does that preservation last? Permanently.

What an awesome blessing to have. I went down this thought process a little bit and I landed on a talk from 2003 by President Oaks. I'll put the link inside of here.

I just wanted to add one more sentence that he says in his talk around this reference to salt. He says, to perform our covenant duty as the salt of the earth, we must be different from those around us. And then he continues to go on from there.

My friends, thank you for your path of being savory salt. Thank you for diving into the scriptures on a daily basis. Thank you for attempting and increasing your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope you find great increase in your testimony as you read from the scriptures on a daily basis. And I hope that you and I together on this process are truly becoming a more savory salt. 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.