2.264 Blessed Are They Who Will Repent

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. Have you ever heard of the pride cycle?

If you have, you're going to be able to see it in a very, very small area of the Book of Mormon. If you haven't, simply go to Helaman chapter 11 and you will see the pride cycle as taught repeatedly throughout the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Remember, the Book of Mormon is a warning for our day, and Helaman chapter 11 condenses it all into a wonderful little 13-year period of pride cycle, over and over in a loop.

We've been reading this week Doctrine and Covenants sections 102 through 105, as well as Helaman chapters 8 through 11. No, 8 through 12, I apologize. 8 through 12. I say 11 because while I want to talk about 11, our verse for today is actually coming from Chapter 12.

Helaman chapter 11 is quite telling. In 13 years, we see repentance, we see prosperity, we see pride, we see a fall, we see destruction, we see the whole loop. We see humility, we see turn to the Lord again, we see repentance.

My friends, Helaman chapter 11 is worth an in-depth look and study. Take some time inside of there. And then as we get into Helaman chapter 12, the front end of it is quite a tongue lashing, honestly.

It's quite a chance for us to look in the mirror, especially those of us that find ourselves so incredibly blessed by the hand of the Lord. We've talked about—maybe it's been since last season—but we've talked kind of semi-jokingly about first-world problems and the challenges that lie for those of us in these advanced technologies and civilizations in the world today. Our world truly is amazing, and with it brings great abundance, prosperity, and ease in many cases in our lives.

I'm not talking about the entire world, just talking about the perspective as I see it, having traveled many different countries around the world. You see, the warnings in chapter 12 are clear: prosperity, wealth, a desire for precious things, gathering of stuff, easiness of life. These tend to lead us into forgetfulness of the Lord and his hand in our life.

And we're certainly reminded of that in Helaman chapter 12. And inside of all of that challenge, inside of all of that that might prick some feelings a little bit as you read through it and might kind of poke and prompt to change some of the ways that you're doing things in life, we get this beautiful verse that is short and sweet, and yet ultimately the message the Lord would convey to us. Our verse for today is Helaman chapter 12, verse 23.

In all of these things, where he's reminding us that prosperity will make us forget the Lord, that wealth can make us forget the Lord, all of these challenges, he says this: "Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God, for these are they that shall be saved." My friends, take an opportunity today, if you would, and turn to the Lord in prayer. Ask for repentance and forgiveness of the mistakes that you've made in your life, thinking to what those may look like, what they may be, and then make a commitment to Him that you're going to better hearken unto His voice. This is not a one-time event.

I've found, especially since I've started Savory Salt, I'm now, I don't know, 630-ish. I've been doing these episodes since I started on a daily study of the scriptures. And that's not patting myself on the back; that's something that I've tried to bring consistently into my life, a better perspective.

But I can tell you that I feel the love of the Lord in my life as I repent and as I seek to repent daily. I'm making mistakes, I know I am. My family certainly knows I am, but I'm also trying to be closer to the Lord every day.

I hope that the Lord sees my efforts; I know He does, I feel that He does. And I know I continue to make mistakes. But, my friends, as we turn to Him, we truly can see His hand in our lives.

Don't allow the abundance and wealth and your rush of time—don't allow those things to take your life over and ultimately separate you from the love of our Lord. We see the warnings clearly in Helaman. We see them quickly in Helaman.

Thirteen years, an entire pride cycle goes through in Helaman chapter 11. May we see the opportunity that repentance truly is in our lives and take advantage of it. We can do this, and the Lord will help us do it, every one of us.

That's all for today. My friends, lift up your hearts and rejoice. Throw in some repentance in there too.

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