3.150 With Great Power...

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.

When's the last time we had a Spider-Man reference or any Marvel reference, for that sake, inside of Savory Salt? I think it's time we bring one out. We are reading this week the Book of Judges, specifically chapters 2 through 4, 6 through 8 and 13 through 16.

Peter Parker, before he became Spider-Man, he's going through this development phase. His Uncle Ben is a positive mentor in his life, and before he passes away reminds Peter Parker that with great power comes great responsibility. And that, of course, what does it mean for Samson and his story as well?

Well, let's take a look at our verse for today and see if we can connect these dots. Judges 14, verse 6 is our verse for today. And it doesn't have a super spiritual connotation to it, but I think you're going to connect the dots here.

Verse 6 says—I guess verse 5 beforehand—you've got kind of this young lion is coming at Samson, right? He's kind of in this weird scenario. Here comes a lion to attack him.

Verse 6 says: "And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid. And he had nothing in his hand, but he told not his father or his mother what he had done." So we have this kind of ultra-violent moment here where Samson just rips apart a young lion that's coming at him. Why would I pick that verse?

Well, I picked that verse because it's one of several verses that uses this phrase: "And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him." So we have kind of this context that Samson is being guided, question mark, or enhanced, question mark. What is it that's coming here? And I appreciate the additional tools that we have to see some insight here as to what's happening with Samson and the Spirit of the Lord as it seems that this Spirit of the Lord coming mightily upon him in this case seems to specifically speak directly to his.

But really, it's out of a talk given by Sister N. M. Dibb called "Arise and Shine Forth".

I'll make sure there's a link here in the podcast episode for you. And this is what it says in Come Follow Me, but these segments are from her talk. What can we learn in terms of this idea that great power brings with it great responsibility?

You and I have been blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. Those of us that have made baptismal covenants—that, I would say, is great power. The priesthood of God has been restored on the earth today.

That is great power and with it comes great responsibility. I hope that you and I can take lessons from both Spider-Man and Samson here and understand that the Lord will bless us, enhance us, and strengthen us as we seek to live and follow His commandments. And as we turn away from Him, those blessings will be lost as well.

Hopefully, that's a positive uptick one, even though it does have a tragic ending. Hopefully, we use it for the positive side and are able to express that a better way in our lives. 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.