2.158 Can You Imagine?

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, it's great to have you with me.

Today let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. We've been reading Doctrine and Covenants sections 58 and 59 this week as well as Alma chapters 2 through 5. And we want to get into Alma, and I've got to tell you, this was so difficult for me.

These chapters inside of Alma chapters 2 through 5 here are very powerful. And I had to pick some of the chapters that I wanted to read. And so, just as a reference point, if you want to dive deeper into the Alma chapters here on the front end, go back to season one.

And I got a reminder here. If you want to look specifically at Alma chapter five, back in episodes 154 to 157 in season one. If you wanted to go back to those days, I think they were not called episodes last year, I think I called them days.

So Day 154 to 157. Today we're going to look in Alma chapter 5 as well as tomorrow. And that means it's very sad for me.

It means that we're leaving behind Alma chapters 2, 3, and 4. You have a micro civil war here. Not micro at all.

Thousands of people died in a little civil war that happened. You have a very important thing that comes with marking themselves in defiance of God. We talked about that in the past as well.

So a lot of things happening there, but Alma chapter five is such a powerful one for me. And it also should be a powerful one for each one of us as members of the church, because here's an opportunity for Alma, who was the leader of the church at the time, the high priest at the time, is really giving us an opportunity to look into us as members of the church, where we sit, how we're doing. And so the verses today and tomorrow will come specifically from Alma chapter 5.

Our verse for today is in Alma 5:16 and it says: "I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that you hear the voice of the Lord saying unto you in that day: Come unto me, ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth." I love this one for a couple of reasons. One, I absolutely love the song by MercyMe, "I Can Only Imagine." I'm going to put the link in it. I don't usually link over to YouTube stuff.

Typically I try to shy away from that because YouTube can take you down this hole. But I want to put that link inside of there because it matches so well this idea of imagining the day of meeting the Lord. And Alma has both sides of the coin in this.

But I wanted to focus on the positive one because when you and I are doing our best, when we are seeking to repent daily, when we're following the commandments of the Lord, I hope that you can stand in this phrase. I hope that you can see the Lord saying unto you, "Come unto me, ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth." My friends, I know, look, I'm doing my best and you're doing your best. And I think it's awesome that we're diving in here and we're trying to read the scriptures every day, and we're trying to feel the spirit every day.

And I hope that you can allow yourself to imagine the day when the Lord comes and invites you to come forward because you have done the best that you could possibly do. What a beautiful day! I hope you take an opportunity to listen to "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe.

If you've never heard it, you're in for an amazing treat. I'm sure many of you have heard it, but take an opportunity to listen to it again and listen through the lens of the Lord saying unto you, "Come unto me, ye blessed," because you're doing the best that you can. And the Lord acknowledges that.

He sees that. And that's exactly why he... The reason why he came and performed the Atonement for us is to make up for all the space between the best that we can do and the best he can offer us.

I'm grateful to my Savior Jesus Christ for his Atonement and for the blessing it is to go forward and do the best I possibly can and hopefully one day have him saying to me, "Come unto me." That's all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave unto the covenants you have made and together we will be savory salt.