Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 8:21-22

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 8:21-22
"And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead."

I wanted to understand these verses better. The student manual referred me to Luke 9:59-60). Maybe he wasn't referring to the first burial of his father.

"And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God."
(Luke 9:59-60)

"Respect for parents was very important in Jewish culture and included the responsibility to provide a proper burial for them when they died. After preparing a body for burial and placing it in a tomb, family members typically returned a year later to place the bones in a stone box called an ossuary, which remained in the tomb as a secondary burial. If the disciple was speaking of his father’s secondary burial, the Savior’s response would seem to communicate that now was the time for the man to serve a mission (see Luke 9:59–60). The man could be at peace about letting his deceased father remain in the tomb with other dead members of the family. It is also possible that the Savior’s response could be understood, “Let the [spiritually] dead bury their [physically] dead.”
In either case, the Savior’s words do not mean it is wrong to mourn the loss of a loved one or give proper respect at a funeral. Rather, these words emphasize devotion to the Lord as a disciple’s highest priority."
(New Testament Student Manual, Chapter 17: Luke 9-14, "Let the Dead Bury Their Dead")

Day 4061

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 7:16, 20

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 7:16, 20
"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

The Lord tells us that a good tree cannot bring evil fruit, neither can an evil tree give us good fruit. Oh, I'm sure evil will call itself good but to its core it is rotten and eventually the rot is exposed. We will know them by their fruits. It's just like false prophets for what they prophesy will not come true. A broken clock can be correct twice a day, and sometime the evil gives that appearance but if you watch it long enough you will know something is not quite right. There is deception. The really sad part is you can be blinded to that deception if you believe lies and do not have the spirit to always be with you.

"I feel to emphasize the warning President Russell M. Nelson issued us: that “in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” One of the many reasons you will need the constant influence of the Holy Ghost is that you live in a season in which the adversary has become so effective at disguising truth that if you don’t have the Holy Ghost, you will be deceived. Many obstacles lie ahead. The distractions will be many."
(Dallin H. Oaks, "Coming Closer to Jesus Christ", BYU Devotional address on February 10, 2026)

Day 4060

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 6:21

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 6:21
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

I asked myself what my treasure is? Treasure is probably not the right word, for that makes me think of riches and material things and I'm not so big into that. I found it better to think about what I give most of my time and effort too. Where is my attention focused? Do I have a good balance pleasing to the Lord? It made me think of my family history, that really is my top "treasure". This year I will mark my 50th year since I officially took my first genealogy class. That really is a good treasure to mark my life's work. This is part of the Lord's work gathering Israel on both sides of the veil. I have had so many spiritual connections around it. My testimony of the Lord and his love for each of His children has been cemented to my heart. I can not only take this life work with me on the other side, but I can continue it there. I had already planned I was going to do some research after reading my scriptures tonight, now I can't wait! There are more family members to find and eventually greet on the other side.

Day 4059

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 5:39

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 5:39
"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

I found this note in my scriptures added on 8 Oct 2023. It would have been right after President Oaks general conference address on "Kingdoms of Glory".

"Wow, I just realized that President Oaks general conference talk was actually steps ahead of a growing movement I have read about in several articles now. How inspired he was."
"It was the result of having multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — "turn the other cheek" — [and] to have someone come up after to say, "Where did you get those liberal talking points?" And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, "I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ," the response would not be, "I apologize." The response would be, "Yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak." And when we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we're in a crisis." 
(NPR, "He was a top church official who criticized Trump. He says Christianity is in crisis", 8 Aug 2023)

Day 4058