Salt and Light

Good Morning,

Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)
"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."

There have been probably millions of sermons preached and messages written about these verses of Scripture. Today, however, something was pointed out to me that I hadn't thought of before. Maybe I might have heard a message in a like vein, but I've forgotten if I have.

What was shown to me were the words, "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world," and the fact that those traits are what God thinks about each of us. Yes, we ARE His salt of the earth and we ARE His light in this world. When God looks down upon us, this is what He sees and what He feels toward us. Kind of makes you feel pretty good, doesn't it?

We, do, however, have some responsibilities that go along with being God's salt and light here on this earth. We are to "salt" our conversations...that is to flavor them and spice them up...with our Christian beliefs and with our true knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. When we fail to do that, well, then we have, as Jesus said, lost our "saltiness" and are of little good to the God's Kingdom. We are also to be the "light" that reflects the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. We are to show that light brightly to every person we meet, indeed, we are to show it to the whole world. It is by this "light" that we can "shine before men, that they (the world; all people) may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." But there are still some of us who hide our "light" and don't allow it to be seen brightly and show who we have become in Jesus Christ.

But, I think the main thing that's being pointed out to us today is that God looks upon us and sees "salt" and "light." We are to keep that in mind, I believe. We are to keep that in mind so that we can go out and BE what God would have us to be, and to do what God would have us to do.

Love, peace, and blessings,

David