Day 345 The Power of Women to Build or Destroy

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, a message for the sisters.

Welcome to day 345 on our 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Today, we're going to be reading Ether chapter 7, verses 22 to 27. You will finish that chapter, and you will see a very powerful event occur, and it occurs through a very powerful woman.

Let's take a look and see what we can find. Our verse for today is actually going to be the front end of that story, so it's not going to look like she has a role to play here, but it absolutely begins the knocking over of some dominoes that's going to lead ultimately to the full destruction of the Jaredite civilization. Our verse for today is Ether chapter 8, verse 7.

It says, And now Jared became exceedingly sorrowful because of the loss of the kingdom, for he had set his heart upon the kingdom and upon the glory of the world. Now, what ensues after this verse is the daughter of Jared, this king at the time, coming to him and coming up with a plan to begin to topple other kingdoms and take and regain control of his kingdom. And it is quite a powerful story because what we get inside of this in Ether 8 is the introduction of secret combinations.

We've talked about them in the past with the end of the Nephite civilization. Here we see in Ether 8, the beginning of them through the influence of this daughter of Jared. It took me into some researching and looking around to find out kind of the effect of this, and I landed on something that again I thought was a special message to the sisters in our lives.

So, ladies, those of you that are listening to this episode, this one goes to you. It's from President James E. Faust in 2013.

He gave a message called "The Virtues of Righteous Daughters of God," and he uses the daughter of Jared as one example, and he uses Esther as another example of what role the daughters of God can play. And then he says this message. What a beautiful message to remember the role that our sisters, our moms, our daughters, our women in our lives play when it comes to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Ladies, you can literally topple or build civilizations with the power that you possess. In Ether 8, we have an example of one that sets in motion the complete destruction of a civilization. And as referenced here by President Faust, through the story of Esther, we also have an example of a woman that saved an entire population.

You have the ability to make that choice. Who will you be as you go forward and increase Savoring Your 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.