3.074 Have Bread when the Dearth Begins

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.

We're wrapping up our week this week with Joseph, at least on his struggling side of things. We haven't gotten to the spoiler alert part where he's going to work with his brothers and they're going to see him again after this long absence. That's coming next week.

But we are reading Genesis chapters 37 through 41. And inside of this, as we wrap up today inside of Genesis 41, let's talk inside of this episode about a buzzword amongst Latter-day Saints. That buzzword could be preparedness, could be food storage, could be anything along the lines of, are you storing stuff for the last days?

Because I think we've got a lesson inside of here from Joseph that can help all of us down that realm. Let's take a look at our verse for today. It's going to be in Genesis chapter 41, and it's verse 54.

Although I'm going to let you know here that we've got to look at 48 and 49 in the context of 54. So 54 is our verse for today, but I am going to grab a couple of segments from 49 and 48 as well. Genesis 41:54 says this: "The seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said, and the dearth was in all lands.

But in all the land of Egypt there was bread." Now, that's good news for the land of Egypt. And that's because Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh's dream and prepare during the seven years prior to the dearth beginning. That's where we come into play here with 48 and 49.

What did Joseph's preparation look like? Now, I'm not going to read 48 and 49 to stay in context with Savory Salt and our one verse per day. But we do find out that he is laying food up all around the cities.

He's like stacking food in the cities. We also find out that he's gathering corn as the sand of the sea. We are gathering some serious amounts of corn.

We are gathering our food. We're stacking it all over the city. We are preparing for seven years of famine.

Then we go back to our verse 54. As the dearth comes, it happens everywhere, happens in all lands. But in the land of Egypt there was bread.

Now, my friends, my question for you—you probably see it coming here—but how are you preparing in these last days? And I'm not talking necessarily about food storage here. I'm just wondering about your preparations for the coming of the Lord.

Welcome to the coming of Jesus Christ on the earth again. We certainly have the prophetic counsel from living apostles and prophets that tell us we need to prepare. And again, not just in monetary means, not just in physical means.

The preparation we need to do spiritually is just as important. So, my friends, I want you to think into your preparation. And this could be preparation for something as simple as a test you've got coming up in your class.

This could be preparation for a family gathering that's coming up for your family. How are you preparing for the times you see coming? Because that preparation is going to determine in the day of the dearth whether or not you get to eat of the bread.

So, my friends, as we get to the end of this episode here, my question to you is: how do you approach preparing for the day of dearth to ensure that you, when that happens, have bread to eat? I hope that you can see what I'm trying to get at here. I am not saying, "Run to the store, grab as much as you possibly can now, empty the shelves, pack it in your house." I am saying that the Lord is encouraging us to be prepared for His Second Coming.

What does that look like, sound like, feel like in your life? That I think comes down to you and your family. Prayer, study, and see what comes for your preparation when it comes to prepare Egypt for the day of dearth.

I love you guys. I appreciate you listening. I hope that these are messages that you can take and have conversations with your families.

I love seeing what's happening on a visual side of things. The podcast continues to grow internationally, and I thank you for those of you that are sharing this with others and encouraging others to listen along. I hope it's a place of value for you and a place where you can feel the spirit and get a little bit of scripture and a little bit of thought every day.

That's all for today, my friends. You and I hope. We've 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.