“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house. 16. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” NKJV
We do not choose the time that we will be born and live our lives. I believe that our sovereign God knew when we would be born and what would be occurring in the world when we lived out our lives. As Mordecai said to Esther: “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14b) If God didn’t think that you could handle these times, you would have been born in another time. What Jesus said to His disciples in this text applied to them in their time and they apply to us in our time – We are to be His salt and light in the world. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…” What does this mean? Just think about the uses of salt in the world. Salt is used to flavor food. Job said that he would not want the white of an egg without salt. We are to add flavor to the world. This means that we are to show people what real life, life in Jesus, is all about. Salt can also be an irritant. A cursive reading of church history will show you that when we teach and practice the Christian faith, we can be irritating to the world. We can see this today. In fact, the name of Jesus has become an irritant to many people. Instead of complaining about the times and bemoaning the times, we need to go about bringing flavor, and when necessary, irritation to the world. When we cease being the salt of the earth, we become useless as servants of Jesus: “But if salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” We have the light of the world, Jesus, in our lives, and we are to let His light shine for the world to see. This means that we will share what Jesus has done in our lives with the world. It means that we will share the light of the word of God with the world. If we are effective lights, we will live lives that will show that we are serious about living the Christian life. Hypocrisy is a big turn off to the world. It means that we will not do what we should do, and that we will do what we should not do. It means that we will love people like Jesus loved people. Loving people as Jesus did does not mean excusing lifestyles that are counter to Christian teaching. Jesus loves us in spite of our sins and we are to love others in spite of their sins. It begins with loving each other as Christians. Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” The Love that Jesus brought into our lives is to be shared with the world. It is not our job to judge the world. Jesus will take care of that in His time. It is our job to shed the light of Jesus on the world by what we do not do, by what we do and by what we teach. Nowhere are we told in the Bible to compromise our faith or our lifestyles. According to what Jesus said in the text, it is possible that we could fail to serve as salt and light to the world. Jesus warned that if we do not serve as salt, we will be useless as His servants. It does not mean that we are not saved, it means that we are poor witnesses. Jesus warned that we can fail to shine as lights to the world. It is important that we be both salt and light. Why? Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” As salt and light, we are to bring glory to God. We are, indeed, in the world for such a time as this! Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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