2.73 Give Heed Unto All His Words

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends.

Great to have you with me. Today, let's be anxiously engaged in a a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. My friends, I know Doctrine and Covenants Section 20 is loaded with things about church administration, but we're going to actually move on.

I don't know if that's exciting for you or if you're saying, wait, but there's more. I know there's so much more, but that's what we're going to have for Doctrine and Covenants Section 20 as we continue. You're reading this week Doctrine and Covenants Sections 20 through 22, as well as 2 Nephi chapters 19 through 23.

And you're probably sitting there saying, but, Allen, 19 through 23 are just Isaiah chapters. So do we have to go over there? Well, we're going to spend some time over there as well.

But today, before we do, we're going to get one more verse out of Doctrine and Covenants reading this week. It is Doctrine and Covenants Section 21, Verse 4. Understand, when we do Verse 4, it is—I always say this—but it is part of a sentence that actually has Four and Five together.

So we'll sneak part of Five in just to make sure we don't read two verses, but you'll get the gist. Verse 4 says this: "Wherefore, meaning the church, Thou shalt give heed unto all His words and commandments which He shall give unto you as He receiveth them, walking in all holiness before Me." Please understand that this "He" that we're talking about is speaking as if it is the voice of the Lord. Now, who's the "He"?

Important thing to understand there. In Doctrine and Covenants Section 21, the "He" is talking directly about Joseph Smith. What it means for us today, as we have learned time and again over General Conference talks, is the importance for us to heed the living prophet and the words that he speaks.

We have had all the way back to, it's probably even further back, but I can think specifically, Harold B. Lee talked about this, Ezra Taft Benson talked about this. Others that have gone through in more recent decades have talked about the importance of following and heeding the words of the living prophet.

Today, as of this recording, for us in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that is President Russell M. Nelson. Now, I love inside of here, not just the command from the Lord, but the inspiration for us to take to heed His words and the commandments that He'll give you, "walking in all holiness before Me." There's another reference to that "holiness before Me." And I love that because to me, that's just a reminder of Holiness to the Lord that comes from the temple.

Now, I know that there are those that get mixed up inside of heeding the words of the prophet. When is the prophet speaking as the prophet? When is he speaking as a man?

When is he talking in this context? When is he talking in that context? I just, this doesn't tie in exactly clean, but it's just what came to mind with me.

And I thought, you know what? I want to share this to the group, but inside of the 2025 youth album, there's a song called "Doubt Not," and you can hit the link inside of the podcast episode. It'll just take you straight over to that music, but take a second and just listen to that song.

It's not a song that directly talks about doubting not the words of a living prophet. It's talking more about your connection to Jesus Christ—those times where you're wavering a little bit in your faith, leaning in and doubting not. And I think, for me, that the answer when it comes to heeding the words of the prophet: Is he speaking today as a prophet, or is he just speaking as Russell M.

Nelson? Is he talking in General Conference, or was he just talking over here to the news on the side, or whatever it is? My friends, it's the words of the prophet, a living prophet of God, directly led by a living Jesus Christ, our Savior.

I have the faith and I hope to continue to have the faith that when the prophet speaks, I'm going to do the best I can to listen, to heed, and to work and do the commandments that he gives us as if they are the words of the Lord. That's all for today, my friends. Please enjoy, "Doubt Not." It's a great song.

Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave unto the covenants you have made and together we will be savory salt.