2.304 A Golden Calf is Not Pleasing to the Lord

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. Beware the Almon Babbitts. We are reading this week Doctrine and Covenants section 124 as well as 3 Nephi chapters 20 through 23.

We're going to get one more verse here inside of Doctrine and Covenants as we kind of ping-ponged back and forth between the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I'm going to talk about the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, yesterday and today. This one is an interesting one.

It comes on the tail end. I guess not the tail end because this is a monster section here. I guess it's a little bit past the midway point.

It stood out to me and I thought, you know, I've kind of seen it happening here and there inside the church. And I thought it might be worth all of us just kind of gathering together and realizing that it's here and that we should be aware of it. Our verse for today comes in Doctrine and Covenants section 124, verse 84.

It says this: "Worship of my people." Now those are some harsh words for Almon Babbitt. I had to look him up. He's not one of those names that's like, you know, Martin Harris or Oliver Cowdery or Joseph Smith when it comes to church history.

I had to go and look up who's Almon Babbitt and what is his issue because he's getting a pretty good call out here from the Lord. His issue is quite simple. He took the counsel of the Lord and did what he wanted to anyway.

Now if that stung just a little bit, I promise you it stung me when I thought about Almon Babbitt and his experience. Have you and have I experienced in our time, different times in our lives, counsel from the Lord or his anointed leadership, heard it and said, "Okay, I hear that counsel. I'm just going to go and do my counsel anyway.

I'm going to do it my way anyway." I know there have been times where I've certainly done that. And I think this verse is one that could say, "Allen, just so you know, just so you know, when you establish your counsel instead of the counsel which I have ordained" (the Lord speaking here) "then you're setting up a golden calf." That's a pretty harsh one. When you, when you go back to the people of Israel, right, and those that are dealing with Moses and the Ten Commandments, that golden calf moment is a pretty, pretty intense moment with the Lord's anger.

So for you and for me, let's beware the Almon Babbitt moments in our lives. Let's take President Monson's counsel, if you remember President Monson's counsel. I remember him telling a story about the way that he learned it in his own life, and I won't tell that story.

But his basic premise and punchline was that he learned, "When the Lord commands you to do it, do it." I think that's counsel that you and I could take and stew on. It doesn't take much thinking about. Let's not be the Almon Babbitts here.

By the way, his experience, just really quickly. The Lord said, "Leave Kirtland. I will deal with Kirtland in my own time.

It's time to get out and move to Nauvoo." And Almon wanted to stay. He was the head of the stake. He was basically a stake president in Kirtland and said, "No, no, I'm going to keep raising funds here.

I'm going to keep gathering people here. I'm going to keep telling the people to gather in Kirtland while Joseph's up in Nauvoo saying, 'Hey, everybody, come to Nauvoo.'" Almon was convinced that his way was the right way rather than the Lord's way. My friends, please be aware of the Almon Babbitts around you.

Please don't be an Almon Babbitt to others around you. When we hear the counsel of the Lord, let's take the Lord's advice and let's do it as promptly as we can. That is the lesson that I pull from Almon Babbitt inside of this Doctrine and Covenants reading.

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.