Friday April 2, 2004

~ Salt & Light ~
(Reaching out to unbelievers… kohpeeboy, this one’s for you)

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 by men.
You are the light of the world. A city 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 men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.

— Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV) —

“salt of the earth”
We are the salt of the earth. Salt has a couple of properties that make it useful. For those who prepare dried foods, it is known that salt keeps food from spoiling. In addition, salt is also used as a spice. For us to be the salt of the earth, we must also be doing the same. We help prevent rotting and spoiling but not of food, but life. While we cannot save people from their sin, we can point them in the right path. Nothing in this world is eternal. As a spice, we bring out the best in life, when salt is added to a dish, it tends to bring out the flavors already present.

“loses its saltiness”
How would salt… lose it’s saltiness? Did you know that if you took a salt crystal and broke it, it would break into little cubes? Break the cubes again… smaller cubes. So the structure is still the same. But what if it lost it’s useful properties. If you dilute salt in enough water, it loses the useful properties outlined above. Are we living out lives for the glory of God? Or do we just pay Him lip-service? What good is it to speak of this loving, merciful, and just God… when we do not reflect Him?

“no longer good for anything… to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
Dust… dirt. This is what men walked upon. So if we are not being salty, we will go back to the dust that we came from?

“light of the world”
We are lights. We shine on the path and point out the way to life. But note this, anyone who has been in the dark for a long time will not have a favorable reaction to the light. Too many times I have woken up, walked to the bathroom in a semi-vegatative state and BAM! turning on the lights does not make me very happy at all… 😛 It’s the same way with how we affect people sometimes. Some people love the light, others maybe have been in the darkness for so long that light irritates them. But we are still called to shine, regardless of the circumstances.

“city on a hill cannot be hidden.” & “put it on a stand… gives light to everyone”
Anyone who has eyes will see a city on a hill. Same goes for any place there is light. Sometimes we get discouraged and want to hide ourselves away. But God calls us to shine our light for everyone. We will be placed on this stage called life and our lives are a testimony to what we believe our God to be. How can God’s people be reflect nothing but selfishness and our own desires? We cannot… we must reflect God’s message of mercy… of love, and of hope.

“let your light shine before men”
Jesus doesn’t want us to shine for just our family… just our friends. “before men” as in everyone. Jesus doesn’t seem to really care if you came from a Gentile or Jewish background; tax collector or prostitute. His light shown into their lives to light up all things, to show them the way to eternal life.

“your good deeds… praise your father in heaven”
When people see your good deeds, we need to be careful not to withold where credit is due. This great change in our lives is the work of the Holy Spirit. To think that we can become sons and daughters of God by our own merit is denial. We shine because God works in us toward clean out all things evil from the inside out. People will see the good works and it is your job to tell them why you do them. We do not work for salvation. We work as God directs us, to bless everyone, even those who curse us, because the glory belongs to the Father.

PL, thanks for the chat, it’s always good to be encouraged.
PKB, hopefully this answers your question.
J, I pray that you will turn from your ways, Shine!
HE, sorry, I put my foot in my mouth more often than not. Forgive me?
BH, if we don’t stay God-centered, our world will come crashing around our feet. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way. I pray that you are not following in my footsteps.

Father, forgive me for sinning against you. For all those things I take for granted. For everytime, I see the right path… and go the other way. For each time you pull me out of a hole only to watch me slide and crawl back in. Continue to work in me and to work on this heart of mine. Help me to hold firm to your promises, when I falter and long for darkness. My your will be done in my life and the glory be yours. I pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Amen.

<Randomness> *sung out of tune & rhythm* I wanna be in the light… like you are in the light… I wanna shine like the stars in the heaven~! </Randomness>