Have you tasted a food that’s without salt? It’s not great to eat without salt. As salt adds taste to the food, likewise, have you imagined or lived a life without Sun light limiting to only 2 Hrs. or 4 Hrs. Rest of the time being dark. Yes, this condition exists in Northern Canada and some parts of US, during the wintertime. Life is dull boring, and many people living there fall to depression due to this state as they are over reliant on man made light “Tube lights” or any other light source.
This Post Salt & Light comes from my devotion on what Jesus taught for us in Matthew 5
' “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 'Matthew 5:13-16
You are…
The word starts as “You are the Salt of the Earth”? What does this mean?
The world we live today can be characterized by two things moral corruption and spiritual darkness.
Moral Corruption
What is this moral corruption? Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians 6:8-10
'Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ' 1 Corinthians 6:8-10
The same sins that Paul described still exists in the world we live. Every year pass by / every generation pass by we tend to adjust to these corrupt sinful practices and call it as “Change in Culture” and live with that.
Spiritual Darkness
Many may have not accepted the faith in Jesus or some who have accepted Jesus continue to live a life without the Holy Spirit is the state of Spiritual darkness.
If you don’t have the spirit of Jesus in you, you will not be able to produce the fruits of Spirit (As Paul writes in Galatians 5:22) leading to spiritual darkness
'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 'Galatians 5:22
Grace and mercy
Remember you and I were morally corrupt and spiritually dark once upon a time, as Paul wrote
'And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. ' 1 Corinthians 6:11
We are saved by his grace and mercy; He has saved us to make us into something that this fallen world desperately needs
God has redeemed us to make us "the salt of the earth" - that purifies and cleanses and seasons this earth, it serves as a preservative to prevent moral corruption. Because the people of this world live in spiritual darkness, God has redeemed us to make us "the light of the world" - which pierces the darkness and gives illumination to those who need it, it exposes sin, and that serves to reveal truth and grace and salvation.
“You are” - He doesn't say, "Everyone in the world is the salt of the earth and the light of the world"; but only a specific group - His disciples, Brothers, and sisters in Christ, yes if you have faith in Christ, then “You are his chosen to be the salt and light”
You are Salt of Earth
' “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 'Matthew 5:13
There are different ways we use salt
It’s used as a seasoning for our food. Just the right amount of salt adds a great deal of flavour and enjoyment to that which is, otherwise, bland.
Salt Is used as a preservative for preventing decaying pickle, meat etc
Salt has key mineral sodium, it’s an essential nutrient that our body needs .
So, metaphorically speaking, Jesus refers to the disciples and followers of Christ - as "the salt of the earth" - is given by God to serve as that which prevents the corruption of sin and wickedness from spreading in culture. We are here to prevent the world from going completely bad!
Salt like character
Like how a salt adds flavour, we must be in people’s lives to make them get away from sins One of the things that makes "salt" effective is its close presence to that which it seeks to purify or stop the decay.
Likewise, as "the salt of the earth", We must be up close and personal with the lost people of this world and the culture in which it lives else we cannot be effective as salt.
For us to be as salt we need to have the Christ given distinction in each of the work we do, that’s the only way we can stop the sin and corruption of world, we cannot be living like the rest and say we are the salt, we must live by God’s standards, we must live a life that’s singular that’s pleasing to God both personal and external life, a life that is same in front of God and world.
Salt loses its saltiness
The word says
But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 'Matthew 5:13
Salt in us comes from Jesus, like how a salt is produced from seawater or rock crystals, we must be rooted in Jesus to get the saltiness in us else we lose the saltiness as the world is filled with corrupt practices.
But we lose our effectiveness as salt when we become mixed up and contaminated with the elements of our culture. We end up becoming indistinguishable from the people of the culture themselves - the very people God has saved us to serve as "salt"!
Light of the world
' “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. ‘ Matthew 5:14-16
Like how we saw the “salt of the world”, Jesus calls us to be the light of the world, you will be his flashlight once you have the faith in Christ.
light - drives out darkness. Darkness cannot coexist with even a little bit of light, and the darker the darkness, the brighter the light shines. And here, Jesus tells us that we - His church of the redeemed - are "the light of the world."
Light cannot be hidden
“A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house”
First, the light in us, that has Jesus as its source, can't be hidden. It's silly to even try. Jesus says, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." He compares us with a huge city that is situated high on a hilltop. It can't be hidden from view; and neither can Jesus' light in us. Jesus Himself couldn't be hidden. The Bible tells us that there were times when He sought to travel into a town or stay in a house without the mobs of people knowing about it, he was never hidden, his light shined everywhere on all the work he did.
Let your Light Shine before Others
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. ‘
The light in us can shine only - what does it mean to be "light"? It means to shine and reflect the holiness of Jesus that people see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. And we faithfully shine that light - and avoid hiding our good works under a basket - when we do what Jesus said in the last four beatitudes: that is, when we show mercy to others as we have been shown mercy by God; when we seek after purity of heart just as we have been declared pure in God's sight by faith; when we work to be peacemakers just as we now have peace with God; and when we display joy over our future reward, whenever we are persecuted for righteousness sake because of our identification with Christ.
We received the Love of Christ, lets show the love as fruits to others.
We received mercy from Christ, lets show mercy to others as our father has been mercy full to us despite the sin and iniquities in us.
Let’s share the joy of Christ in all the trials we go thru to show how the light of Christ in us differentiates us from the world when they go thru trial.
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