Day 356 Hard Hearts, Blind Minds, and a Ceased Spirit

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. Who has your heart?

Welcome to day 356 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Today, you're going to be reading Ether chapter 15, verses 1 through 19. You're not going to finish Ether here.

So I will let you know that tomorrow as we finish Ether and go into the Book of Moroni, our verse tomorrow is going to come from the Book of Moroni. So this basically is wrapping up our thoughts inside of Ether chapter 15. No surprise coming, hopefully, no spoiler alert here coming, but the Jaredites are going to face their ultimate destruction.

And I think the verse that we have here is going to kind of illustrate that enough so that tomorrow when you finish the book you'll be able to know that we're going to dive into Moroni, the Book of Moroni, tomorrow. Our verse for today then, as I mentioned, kind of sums up what is ultimately happening here with the Jaredites as Ether is observing their ultimate destruction. And it comes in Ether 15, verse 19.

It says, "But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people. For they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, that they might be destroyed. Wherefore they went again to battle." Now if we take this one in the context of what we've been reminded of inside General Conference talks, The Book of Mormon, while covering a book of history, is not necessarily a history book.

The Book of Mormon is a book for our day to be aware of the things that we should see in our lives and future events. So the Book of Mormon is a roadmap for us to look at what could come down the pipeline if we don't heed its teachings. So as we look at this, we then say, okay, we can mourn for those that have been lost in the Jaredite civilization.

And we also have an opportunity to learn from them and not repeat the same things. So as we look at this verse then, we say, "What happened? How did the Spirit of the Lord cease striving here?" And we see that Satan has full power over their hearts.

And it's two areas that I wanted to emphasize in this today. One is the hardness of their hearts. They become so hardened that the Spirit of the Lord could no longer reside in them.

And the second one is the blindness of their minds. They had allowed themselves to be blinded by the things of spiritual nature. My friends, I think as we dive into this and as we have done over this year, we have tried to open our minds to the things that the Spirit would teach us.

We've tried to soften our hearts through multiple calls to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I think that is a great reminder for us seeing the destruction of the Jaredites and looking forward in our lives and remembering that as we come forward with broken hearts and contrite spirits, we are going to be talking about the Lord's love for us as we seek to have that soft heart so that the Lord can enter in and inspire us. And as we seek to open our minds rather than blind them to the things of spiritual nature, we become less susceptible to give our hearts over to Satan.

It made me think about how much I love to travel, and I love traveling around the world. I love going all sorts of places around the world. But one of the things I love to do when I travel is I love looking at religious sites when I go, whether it's huge cathedrals or spiritual places where things have happened historically.

I love going there. And the reason I love going there is I love seeking for tiny symbols of truth and tiny shards there. I try, instead of blinding my mind, to open my mind to see the Lord's hand everywhere I go.

And I love doing that because the more I seek to see the Lord's hand, the more I find it in my life. My friends, don't harden your hearts. Don't blind your minds to the spiritual nature that we all have.

Turn to Jesus Christ, give him your heart, and be protected from the ultimate destruction that lies for those that reject him. 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.