2.257 Even Life Eternal

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. And might I add today, I hope that by doing so you have an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord in your life. My friends, this week has been a difficult week.

It's been heavy. I won't go beyond that. But that heaviness doesn't have to stay with us.

The challenges of our lives are part of our mortality. It's part of the imperfection that we agreed to come into in this world. And I don't often do this.

I tend to give us scriptures through the week that kind of progress us through our readings. But this week, in fact, yesterday, the Gospel Library app popped up the verse for today. And it came from Doctrine and Covenants section 98, which we've been reading from 98 through 101 this week, and Helaman 3 through 7.

And so I'm going to back up into Doctrine and Covenants section 98, even though we started the week with it. Let's bring it full circle. We've been reading here about the early saints and the challenges they face in direct persecution.

To my knowledge, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is still to this day in American history the only organization or group of people that have formally had an extermination order signed against them by a sitting governor of a state. I recently shared that news with a friend of mine and she had never heard that before. Well, the early saints were absolutely persecuted for their beliefs.

And Doctrine and Covenants 98 is some of the first counsel they received in the middle of that persecution. We know that. We've talked about that earlier this week.

But this verse, as it popped up in the Gospel Library app for the verse for today, seemed particularly poignant with the events of this week and the last couple of weeks, if I speak quite honestly. Our verse for today is Doctrine and Covenants section 98, verse 13. It is short, to the point, and very powerful.

It says, "And whoso layeth down his life in my cause for my name's sake shall find it again, even life eternal." My friends, there have certainly been those that have been willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ and have died in doing so. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were two of those such men. There have been others throughout history and will continue to be others.

And my thought today is where do you and I sit? If our lives are endangered because of our belief in Jesus Christ, where will we stand? I stand as a witness of Jesus Christ.

There have certainly been times in my life where I've been hesitant to show that or share that with others. And I think the further I get into life, the more I realize I have no reason to hide. I'm going to share what I believe with those that ask.

The time for hiding as a follower of Jesus Christ for me is over. Here I put my flag in the dirt. Here I make my stand.

I will follow Jesus Christ. I will do the best that I possibly can to be his example, his servant, and be the best version of myself as an example of how the Atonement of Jesus Christ can work in someone's life. I encourage you to do the same.

And by doing so, I hope all of us find a greater measure of the Spirit in our lives, a greater desire to increase our own savor, as is the call to action in our podcast. And ultimately, greater blessings to our families and to those around us because we're willing to share the love of Jesus Christ. 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.fema.org.