3.264 The Burden of Babylon

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.

Wow, as we get into Isaiah 13, things go crazy pretty quick, at least for those in Babylon. We are reading this week as we kick off the week, Isaiah 13, 14, 22, 24 through 30, and 35. Seek for the day of the Lord.

We know that it's going to be a day of destruction and a day of joy and happiness as the Lord comes again. And so these are the thoughts I've been thinking about when I landed on one of the power talks that I have inside of my power talk playlist. And this is from October of 2009.

I'll make sure that the link is inside of the podcast episode here for you. It is by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland called "Safety for the Soul." And I just want to open, our verse for today is going to be the opening of that talk for you to kind of reference this idea of all of this chaos in Isaiah 13 with a modern-day apostle talking to us specifically about the Bible and the Bible itself.

A warning perhaps more applicable inside the church than outside it. The Savior warned that in the last days even those of the covenant, the very elect, could be deceived by the enemy of truth. If we think of this as a form of spiritual destruction, it may cast light on another latter-day prophecy.

Think of the heart as the figurative center of our faith, the poetic location of our loyalties and our values. Then consider Jesus' declaration that in the last days men's hearts shall fail them. The encouraging thing, of course, is that our Father in Heaven—the Bible says that the Lord God knows all of these latter-day dangers, these troubles of the heart and soul—and has given counsel and protections regarding them.

And so begins Elder Holland's talk, "Safety for the Soul." My friends, I think it interesting that, inside of today, especially as we look around the world with chaos happening politically, economically, geographically, geophysically—right as we dealing with earthquakes and hurricanes and typhoons and shaking all over the place—we have chaos all over the place that an apostle of the Lord would take emphasis to make sure that he has us looking inward, making sure that we are set with our hearts and our souls towards Jesus Christ. That is definitely a power talk. I would encourage you to take the time to dive into that one and see that.

I think as we read verses and chapters like Isaiah 13, it's very easy to get caught up into those last days and try to find all of the destructive patterns and try to mark them and chart them. But my friends, I think at the end of the day, the mirror is going to be one of the best things we can do to mark and chart our path. That is an opportunity to look inward with our relationship with Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Inward with the relationship that we have through our covenants that we make with our Heavenly Father. And that is an opportunity for each of us to truly find safety for our souls. 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.