Winter has finally arrived, a few months late. As I drove behind the lone salt truck in my county yesterday afternoon before the storm hit, I started thinking about Jesus' words in the gospels during His Sermon on the Mount:
"You are the salt of the earth, but if 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 under foot." Matthew 5: 13
So often throughout my life when I've heard this verse discussed, the speaker or writer has analyzed the usefulness of salt as a preservative and something to add flavor. They often use it as a way to illustrate believers in relation to a sinful world.
But as I drove on the clear, ice-less roads earlier today, after the salt trucks had done their job, I realized that salt can also be used to keep people from slipping. Perhaps this could be put under the category of being a preservative, in that (in the context of salting icy roads) it protects people.
Believers can aid in this capacity in two specific ways: first, they are responsible for proclaiming the truth of the gospel as having life-saving power from sin, and second, they must lead by example. If believers truly believe and trust in the truth of Jesus Christ and His saving power, they must not simply lend lip service to it, but must prove it by living it. To do anything to the contrary is to communicate that it doesn't really matter or isn't really important. If we are saying that this news is life changing and life saving, but don't live it ourselves, we are also communicating that the people around us don't really matter and aren't really important.
But if we truly believe this and trust it, it should shine out of us. It should be a beacon directing people towards Jesus and we should be salt protecting people from sliding and crashing because of sin.
"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." v. 14
So in the winter storms of this world, are we being salt, protecting others on the road of life? Or have we lost our saltiness? Are we lights guiding others to Jesus? Or are we selfishly hiding our light from others to see?
"You are the salt of the earth, but if 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 under foot." Matthew 5: 13
So often throughout my life when I've heard this verse discussed, the speaker or writer has analyzed the usefulness of salt as a preservative and something to add flavor. They often use it as a way to illustrate believers in relation to a sinful world.
But as I drove on the clear, ice-less roads earlier today, after the salt trucks had done their job, I realized that salt can also be used to keep people from slipping. Perhaps this could be put under the category of being a preservative, in that (in the context of salting icy roads) it protects people.
Believers can aid in this capacity in two specific ways: first, they are responsible for proclaiming the truth of the gospel as having life-saving power from sin, and second, they must lead by example. If believers truly believe and trust in the truth of Jesus Christ and His saving power, they must not simply lend lip service to it, but must prove it by living it. To do anything to the contrary is to communicate that it doesn't really matter or isn't really important. If we are saying that this news is life changing and life saving, but don't live it ourselves, we are also communicating that the people around us don't really matter and aren't really important.
But if we truly believe this and trust it, it should shine out of us. It should be a beacon directing people towards Jesus and we should be salt protecting people from sliding and crashing because of sin.
"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." v. 14
So in the winter storms of this world, are we being salt, protecting others on the road of life? Or have we lost our saltiness? Are we lights guiding others to Jesus? Or are we selfishly hiding our light from others to see?
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