2.220 The More Vital Parts...Being Shielded

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. 220 days into our reading this season. Well done and congratulations on the progress. I hope that you're taking a second, occasionally here and there, to reflect on how you're changing and what's happening with your testimony.

We're going to get to the testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ as you read daily from the scriptures. We've been reading this week Doctrine and Covenants sections 85 through 87, as well as Alma chapters 43 through 47. And we're going to shift gears from Doctrine and Covenants and head into the Alma chapters.

These aren't technically the war chapters yet. We're going to get to those inside of chapter 45. So chapters 43 and 44 are kind of these interim ones, and yep, they're super powerful because we get the introduction of Captain Moroni as well as his first battle against Zerahemnah in chapters 43 and 44.

I wish I could just read those ones as our verse. Just read the chapter. But because we're going to focus on one verse, I was trying to find one in 43.

I know I shared one earlier about Alma and the success for him and his sons, but then this chapter really shifts gears quickly. It says, "All right, we're done talking about missionary work. Now we're going to talk about the wars." And so it's interesting to think about these war chapters as we go forward because they're put in here for a reason.

The Book of Mormon is written for our day. The records are. All of these are kept for us as a testament of Jesus Christ and to help us in our day.

So what can the war chapters do for us? And that's kind of the lens I've had as I've been rereading them this time. And in Alma 43, I had a verse that stuck out to me that I wanted to share with you for today.

It's Alma 43, verse 38. And we're in the middle of the battle here and we know by reading the prior verses that the Nephites looked totally different for the battle. They had put shields on and breastplates and they covered their arms and their legs.

They had armor. And the Lamanites, it must have been quite contrarian to battles in that day because the Lamanites were totally surprised by it. They were basically naked with their spears and swords ready to just kind of go straight on the offensive and attack as quick as possible.

So we're in the middle of this battle, and we find out that the Lamanites—who by the way are a two-man—so we're talking about the Nephites and the Lamanites. The Lamanites are very much exposed to this battle and they're falling in large numbers. And we get an insight as to why that's happening.

We all know it because of the armor, but let's actually read 38 and see what it means for us. It says, "'Thus the Nephites did carry on the work of death among the Lamanites.'" Now this is a middle of the battle kind of gruesome moment. There is death occurring here, but it stuck out to me this time, that key phrase inside of there, "'the more vital parts of the body being shielded from the strokes of the Lamanites.'" My friends, the Nephites, especially under the command of Captain Moroni, took time to prepare themselves to be shielded from the attacks.

Now, where did they focus on? They focused on the more vital parts of the body. So for you and I, what does that mean in today's language?

Does it mean we need to put metal armor on when we jump into our cars to go to work or to go to school? I don't think so. So if that's not the case, then what's the Book of Mormon trying to teach us for our day?

I think it's worth an opportunity for each one of us to consider the more vital parts of our lives. Perhaps your family is considered a vital part of your life. Perhaps your home or your place of work or where you go to school.

Perhaps these are vital parts of your life, and if they are, then what we could do is consider what needs to happen in each of those areas or inside those relationships, to shield them from the strokes of battle. I think it's an opportunity to consider if your house needed to be shielded from the attacks of Satan, what would you do more inside your house? What devices are on inside your house?

And when those devices are on, what are they broadcasting? Are they strokes of Lamanites or are they shields? It's a great opportunity for each one of us to consider the more vital parts of our bodies.

What do we need to do to better shield them? Perhaps it's take a little bit of time and go back and review the armor of God and putting on the armor of God. But I'm grateful for this opportunity because it's had me reflect on what happens inside my house with my family, what happens in our own conversations amongst each other.

And it's an opportunity to consider what armor I can put on myself, what armor I can put on my family, what armor I can put on my friends, my colleagues at work, and all those other aspects to make sure that we are shielded from the strokes of the proverbial Lamanites in our lives today. That's all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice.

Cleave into the covenants you have made and together we will be savory salt. For more information, visit us at www.savorysalt.org.