2.243 Make Use of the Means

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. Ah, let's finish out this week inside of Doctrine and Covenants 93, and Alma chapters 57-61 have been such a great combination as we've gone back and forth throughout the week. And we're going to finish up today inside of the Book of Mormon.

Alma chapters 60 and 61 is, you know, Moroni's back and forth, the letters that they're going to write to each other. And Moroni and Pahoran, they had to have been good friends in some way, shape or form through the letters that they did because they certainly, well, Moroni especially gives him his tongue lashing to Pahoran for sure. And yet inside of it, I think that's an interesting thing for us to pull out, especially through the lens of Doctrine and Covenants section 93.

And so that's kind of what I'm looking at inside of our readings. If you want a more in look at Alma 59, 60, and 61, last season, go back to season one, somewhere in the 240s, episodes 247, 248, 249, somewhere around there. You'll find some more in look at each one of these chapters.

But our verse for today comes kind of on the back of our thoughts yesterday. And this week's been interesting as I've titled some of these just single word episodes with truth, prayer, repentance. This one I almost just titled work, but I thought I would use the phrase out of the verse for today instead.

I named this one "Make Use of the Means," which is going to be tied to work, but let's take a look at it and see what we can learn from it. It's Alma chapter 60, verse 21. This is the middle of Moroni's letter to Pahoran.

He's just kind of coming up with all of these possibilities of what could be happening in the capital city. He's like, are you doing this? Or perhaps it's that.

Maybe it's this. Or perhaps it's that. And he came across one that struck me through the lens of Doctrine and Covenants section 93.

And I thought, wow, that's worth capturing, especially in the lens of our Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Mormon side by side. So verse 21 says this: "Or do you suppose that the Lord will still deliver us while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?" Now the reason this one stuck out to me was because Moroni switched from, do you think it's a you, you, you thing? And he switched it to us, which to me kind of implies that Moroni is seeing this situation together.

And it says, "You think the Lord's just going to deliver us when we just sit on our thrones and we don't make use of the means that he's given us?" And it got me thinking about for us kind of modern-day comforts because that certainly is the equivalent of sitting on our thrones. We live in a day and age where there is far, far less manual labor, physical labor, physical activity. We are a community of people of God who are living in a world that is more difficult to live in than any other time in history.

Now I'm not trying to discount any of the work that anyone's doing today. Maybe you do something particularly difficult on the mental activity side of things. But we really do sit upon our thrones.

And today, what I've really been reflecting in on is: are we making use of the means that the Lord's provided for us to work out our salvation? And I've shared a couple of thoughts from my conversation recently with my friend that's returned as a Mission President. And he shared with me about the people in Papua New Guinea that will hike mountains to get to church.

I think I shared that story earlier, but just in case you missed that episode. They visited a small branch and as they asked the people where they had come from for church, they said, "I come from that mountain over there." My friends, they are absolutely making use of the means the Lord has provided for them, as meager as it may be for them. So for you and I this week, and even this day, it's an opportunity for us to see: are we sitting on our thrones waiting to be delivered?

In whatever challenges we're facing, or are we making use of the means? Basically, in simple terms, are we forgetting ourselves and going to work? I love that reminder that our salvation requires us to work it out and make use of the means that the Lord has provided for us.

I hope you see the hand of the Lord in your life and the tools and resources He has provided for you to get through the challenges you face. 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.fema.org.