Day 343 Prepare, Then Commend Yourself to God

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

You know, our timing was just off by a day here because inside of our reading today, we've got 344 days of travel. Today you're going to be reading Ether chapter 6, verses 1 through 25. And inside of this, as I mentioned, we're going to get all of the people onto the barges that have been created, and then we're going to head off to the new land.

Our verse for today is going to come on the front end of that as they're getting everything ready to go. We've got these stones that are going to now glow, and we get to Ether chapter 6, verse 4. It says, And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them.

And it came to pass that when they had done all these things, they got aboard of their vessels and barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God. Now, I think there's an interesting message right on the tail end of that verse. And I think you and I can absolutely apply it into our own lives.

You know, a lot of us, we want to prepare, and we want to be prepared, and we want to do all the things we can in our lives to be prepared, and all the stuff. We want to make sure we have all the food, and the supplies, and the animals, and the fowls, and the herds, and the chickens, and the goats, like all the things. We want to have them all.

And yet, interestingly enough, these people got all of that prepared. They did all those things. And then what did they do at the end of verse four there?

They commended themselves unto the Lord their God. My friends, sometimes we can prepare until we're blue in the face. But what's really going to be a difference maker in our lives is commending ourselves to the Lord our God.

I think there's an opportunity for us to consider what that even means. What does it mean to turn yourself over to God? To put yourself into His hands?

I think of a time in my life where my wife and I had decided that we were going to move from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Houston, Texas. And we didn't really know where we were going. We sort of had an apartment picked out.

But we did all the things that we could do to try and prepare. We planned the road maps. We did all those things.

Off we went. And it's interesting, after everybody had helped us move, and it was just she and I and our daughter. Our oldest at the time was just a little baby at the time.

And we realized that my new job was not going to pay me for the first two months of my employment. And that was an opportunity for us to do exactly what happened inside this verse. We turned to the Lord and we asked for help.

We knew we were supposed to be in Houston, but we also knew that we needed the Lord's help to do so. And through some incredible angels, family members, others, helped us. We made it through, and we did it as we leaned into the Lord's hands and turned ourselves over to Him.

My friends, do all the preparation. Those are important things in our lives, but don't forget to commend yourself to the Lord. Turn it over to Him.

He will help you. He will be there. I promise.

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.