Salt & Light
Matthew 5:13-16 (The Message)
13 "Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
14"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. 16Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
I remember being down at Gulf Shores one Labor Day weekend with Jason. We had a couple of boogie boards & we were riding the waves. The waves were pretty good that day at Gulf Shores. We figured out that there would be 4 or 5 small waves, then one really big one. I remember riding in one of those big waves & then trying to stand up to catch my breath. Then, out of no where, another huge wave crashed right on top of me. It took me totally under & I thought I was going to die! The under-toe held me under & slammed me against the ocean floor. My back was bruised & bleeding. And the salt water from the ocean entered every opening in my head. My ears, nose, mouth - it ran through my whole sinus system! It cleaned me out. I probably drank half the ocean!
There's no doubt that the ocean is salty. I think what Jesus might have been saying here to me & to you is that He wants us to be just like that ocean wave. Whenever people come into contact with us, there is no doubt that we are salty.
Is there any doubt that you are salty?
What about this?
I remember when my friends & I used to go in mission trips in the summer with the youth group. We used to love to pull practical jokes on each other. We had some great stories. One of the funniest was when one of my friends would wait till the lights had been out about 10-15 minutes. No one was really asleep, but our eyes were well adjusted to the dark. Then he would call out your name like he wanted to tell you something. Even though it was dark, you would still look his way, then, right when you looked his way, he would set off the flash on his camera! It would kill our eyes every time!
Have you ever had a similar experience?
There was no doubt in our minds that that light was real & bright. I think Jesus wants the same for you & me, to be pure light in a very dark world.
I was talking the other day to one of our teens who was telling me about the temptations of drugs & alcohol at her school. She told me that if she ever wanted any of that stuff, she knew right where to get it from. We live in a dark world. Jesus wants, He needs for you & me to be salt & light.
Romans 12: 2 says:
(The Message)
2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
How can you be salt & light in your everyday world?
