3.043 Be Fruitful

In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reminding us that our lives are meant to preserve, illuminate, and point others to Him. This season on Savory Salt, we'll walk through the Old Testament, one verse and one thought each day. Perhaps these moments will add greater savor and brighter light to our lives as we seek to truly live as Savory Salt.

Hello my friends. It's a new day with new opportunities. Choose ye this day whom you will serve.

The first commandment given to Adam and Eve. What was that again? Wait, is this going to be on the quiz?

My friends, we're reading Genesis chapter 6 through 11, as well as Moses chapter 8. And we're going to come back from the Book of Mormon and back into the Book of Genesis. As we are reading through the Noah chapters, really, as we get through the flood and post-flood, and that's what we're going to get today.

Just on the back end of the flood, as we get into our verse in Genesis chapter 9, it's a verse that sounds familiar. And it sounds familiar not just because it already been read in the Book of Genesis but because it also pertains to our lives today. Our verse for today is Genesis chapter 9 verse 1: And God blessed Noah and his sons and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.

Now, for those of you that are in the, what do we say, the younger or the single or the dating stages of life, whatever stages those are, yes, this pertains to you as well. But we must make sure that it is inside the commandments that the Lord has given us. The reason I chose this one is because this commandment given to Adam and Eve and then as the flood happens given to Noah, we tend to say, you know, having families, having kids, that's just an old thing.

Like, can you imagine having more than one or two children? Oh my goodness. Well, today there's a huge movement to simply live together, not really have a desire to have a family, simply enjoy your life, travel the world, see the sites.

And so I wanted to bring in "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." That been a topic of discussion inside of this podcast as well as in General Conference talks as well. And if we remember by the one, two, three, let's call it the fourth paragraph inside of there, it says this: The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.

We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. My friends, the Lord wants us to have families. I think it's interesting that you could take any historical study outside of any religious thought.

You could go purely academic and you will find that the argument for families as the basis of civilization in all of world history stands firm and true. Historians across the board agree that the basis of society and civilization is the family. It shouldn't surprise us that that is an eternal law and command from our Heavenly Father.

What does that mean for those of us that don't have this opportunity in our lives? It means that we do our best to seek out to live the commandment as best we can. Be a solid family member to whatever family you have.

Perhaps be an adoptive grandma, grandpa, an adoptive aunt or uncle, cousin, brother, sister, whatever it may be. My friends, I hope that you have a desire in your heart to find a loved one, to marry that loved one, and to have a family so that you and I can go forward and continue to live the command that God gave to Adam and Eve, Noah and his sons, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. May God bless all of our families as we seek to do that.

That's all for today, my friends. You and I have come here for such a time as this. Step forward in faith and let's be Savory Salt. We will be here tomorrow and we hope you are too.