3.080 Priesthood Blessings

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 you this day whom you will serve.

How often do you think about blessings? Specifically, how often do you think about priesthood blessings? That one's got me thinking as we're wrapping up our readings here inside of Genesis chapters 42 through 50.

We're finishing the book of Genesis, and it seems like this story with Joseph just kind of wraps up. We're going to piece together two different parts of the last days of Jacob's life here. And today we're going to start in Genesis chapter 47.

We're going to see in Genesis 47 that Jacob has an opportunity to meet Pharaoh. So Joseph's going to introduce them. Let's take a look at the verse here and see what it has to say.

And then let's go from there. Genesis 47, verse 7 is our verse, although I'd point you in the direction of 7 and verse 10 as well. Verse 7 says this: And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed him.

Now, this is an interesting perspective here when you consider who Pharaoh is at the time. He's pretty much the most powerful man in the world, in a known world for certain. Pharaoh was seen as man and god to the Egyptians.

And here we see in verse 7, and then again, as I mentioned, we see it in verse 10, that Jacob blesses Pharaoh. We don't get any more details to that, but it got me thinking about the power of priesthood blessings in our lives. And I thought, 'You know what, where have I heard that recently?' And it took me down the line of thinking.

I've been reviewing President Oaks' talks over the years, and he has a talk back in, let's see what it is, April of 1987, and it's called specifically "Priesthood Blessings". And he walks through the different priesthood blessings in our lives and what they deal with, what we can see from them, what are the significance of them. And so it's an opportunity for us to see Jacob here using his priesthood authority and power to bless even who at that time would have been considered to be the most powerful human on earth.

Even crossing into the divine based on those people. Inside of "Priesthood Blessings" by President Oaks, he says this piece here. I'll make sure the link's here so you can read the whole talk.

It's awesome. But he says: 'What is the significance of a priesthood blessing? Think of a young man preparing to leave home to seek his fortune in the world.

If his father gave him a compass, he might use this worldly tool to help him find his way. If his father gave him money, he could use this to give him power over worldly things. A priesthood blessing is a conferral of power over spiritual things.

Though it cannot be touched or weighed, it is of great significance in helping us overcome obstacles on the path to eternal life.' My friends, I hope you have an opportunity, and I hope you take the opportunity. Thank you for joining us. May you have the opportunity to give them if you're asked to give them.

May you take the opportunity to have them. Ask the priesthood brothers around you, whether it's in your family or in your ward, to give you a blessing, to seek that spiritual equipment the Lord would give us to overcome the obstacles and trials in our lives. I believe verse 7 and verse 10 show us that no one sits above the opportunity to have a priesthood blessing in their lives.

This is kind of a part one of these two ideas, as tomorrow we'll talk a little bit about Jacob using his priesthood power for patriarchal blessing as well. And what that looks like and feels like. My friends, the priesthood is the authority and power to act in the name of God on the earth.

It is for the blessing of all mankind. May we take advantage of that in worthy ways and may we seek it in our lives to bring upon us the spiritual strength and blessings that heaven has in store for each one of us. 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.