3.133 Let's Remember to Say Please and Thank You

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 many times did your mom tell you growing up, "Remember your pleases and thank-yous"? I think that lesson comes from the Lord. We are reading the Book of Deuteronomy, several chapters throughout the Come Follow Me study here.

We're going to continue in Moses' counsel here and dive kind of directly into the Book of Deuteronomy. Welcome to the verse for today, as well as kind of take a look at what it means for us. Inside of Deuteronomy Chapter 8, there's a section in here, and I want you to reference the whole thing on your own personal study if you get an opportunity to.

Really, in Chapter 8, we're going—let's see—verses 11 all the way down through 19. As the Lord—and I guess the Lord through Moses—to forget that it was me that blessed you. And so it is this section here that reminds us to remember the Lord through good times and bad.

And then we get to Verse 19, which is our verse for today here. In Deuteronomy 8, Verse 19, it says, "And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them. I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish." Now, why did I pick the negative side of that coin?

Well, I think we get this context here as we've mentioned before throughout this, that the Lord in the Old Testament is kind of seen as this angry Lord. And here he sets the parameters right up front and has set the parameters up front with the children of Israel from onset of the covenant. And that is: Choose to follow me or deal with the consequences.

Now, how does this connect to our pleases and thank-yous? Well, if you read the verses here, 11 through 19, it kind of got me thinking about times in my own life when I've been on the "please Heavenly Father" side of things. Maybe I haven't been so diligent in my daily prayer or my turning to the Lord.

And here I beg and plead that the Lord will answer my prayers and that the Lord will respond. There is one aspect to it. What about the thank-you side of things?

Well, sometimes in our lives, the Lord has given us great prosperity and success, and we tend to get a bit lackadaisical. We tend to just forget that those things were blessings from the Lord and we move on to the comforts and successes. I think it was during my time reading the Book of Mormon and as I came across Lehi as he said sacrifices to the Lord in thanks and gratitude and no other reason.

And I started shifting sometimes on my Fast Sunday worship to Fast Sundays focused directly on thanking the Lord and holding a space of gratitude. And that has made a huge difference in my life in being able to take the perspective of the ways the Lord has blessed me. So, my friends, I hope we don't get into the repetitive nature of just begging that the Lord constantly help us, or the nature of simply forgetting the Lord in our times of prosperity.

May we take Deuteronomy Chapter 8 here in the section inside of here, and know that the Lord is seeking that we turn to Him always, in all times, in our prosperity as well as in our struggles, our good days and our bad days. May the Lord be more of a constant companion in our lives is my hope as we go forward today. 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.