2.248 That They May Be Perfected

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. I love the temple.

Can I just start out with this one? I love the temple. I love being in the temple.

I love being around the temple. I love that there are temples around me. And I'm excited to dive into our thought for today.

Here, we are reading this week, Doctrine and Covenants Sections 94 through 97, as well as Alma Chapters 62 and 63 and Helaman Chapters 1 and 2. We are going to look at one more verse inside of our Doctrine and Covenants readings. I know that means it's only going to leave us with a couple of days of Book of Mormon reading, but who knew that we were going to see such awesome gems inside of these sections in Doctrine and Covenants.

And I just had to share one more because of what it deals with with the temple here. We know that inside of the verses we're reading that there's some chapters. There was a lot of chastisement going on from the Lord because the people didn't really take his command seriously about building a house, a house of prayer and fasting and so forth.

And so we see the Saints trying to kind of receive counsel on what they're going to do with this house. And then we get to our verse for today where the Lord, I think, kind of changes the approach and he's like, "You know what? Let's get some 'why' around why you want this house.

Let's do some 'why' for you. What's in it for me? Let me tell you what's in it for you." I think, at least I feel like, that's what the Lord's saying when he gives us this verse here.

Our verse for today is in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 97, Verse 14. So, just above the verse, he's talking about this house that we're going to build, right? So, like, he's saying, "Okay, I want a house built unto me," and then here are some "whys" around it.

Verse 14: "That they may be perfected in the understanding of their ministry, in theory, in principle, and in doctrine, in all things pertaining to the kingdom of God on the earth, the keys of which kingdom have been conferred upon you." Now, did you catch that list there? Because the end of the list is the important part. But did you catch the list there?

Why do we want this house? What is this house of the Lord that we're going to put on the earth, right? The pioneers are kind of like, "All right, let's kind of get a better understanding of it." "That they may be perfected!" I love that.

Let's be totally complete in our understanding of what? Well, our understanding of our own ministry here on the earth. Our understanding of the theory, principles, and doctrine of the Gospel.

That's awesome. Ultimately, in all things pertaining to the kingdom of God on the earth. My friends, what an amazing promise and blessing available to all of us in the temples of our Lord.

You got a question? You got a question with where the Church is going? Or you got a doctrinal thought that just won't leave you alone?

Or do you have something from Church history that just seems to be bugging you? You want to be perfected in that? Go to the temple.

I love that President Nelson has been reminding us of the importance and power. I'm grateful that I've made it a regular part of my life. You know, it's kind of funny.

The temple for me, my wife and I, we always laugh as we go back and forth about what time we're going to arrive to things. And I, full disclosure, I'm the early bird guy, right? I want to, like, early is on time to me.

On time is not on time to me. Early is on time. But there's a reason specific to the temple that I like to be early.

And that reason is it gives me the power to be early. It gives me an opportunity to just sit in the chapel and to read scriptures in a totally different location than I would do at home or in my office or wherever I'm reading scriptures. And I've had opportunities where I've been able to dive into preparation for this podcast, where I've been able to dive into direction for my family, where I've been able to have inspiration for my own direction in life.

Ultimately, I'm seeking this perfection and understanding of my ministry and the principles and doctrines, and the kingdom of God, and understanding it. And I can tell you, through my temple attendance, my understanding is expanding. It's growing.

It is not perfected yet, but I've got plenty more days ahead of me to go to the temple. My friends, you and I will find great riches. In fact, we will find the mysteries of God as we attend the temple together.

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. For more information, visit us at www.savorysalt.org.