Salt of the Earth

For everyone will be tested with fire. Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and leave in peace with each other.                              Mark 9:49-50

Jesus discusses three diverse things. “Everyone will be tested with fire.” According to Jewish law, each sacrifice offered to God had to be purified with salt (Leviticus 2:13) The salt for sacrifices was called a covenant of salt (2 Chronicles 13:5) It was the addition of salt to a sacrifice that made it pleasing to God. According to the New Testament, fire does two things: it purifies and destroys, It purifies all a person’s desires, and destroys all fear of persecution. Salt is good, but once it loses its saltiness, it loses its good qualities. Salt has two good qualities in particular. It adds flavor to things and it preserves something from decay. So salt preserves from corruption and the lowering of standards.

It is the Christian’s duty to add flavor to life. Jesus is busy challenging the Christians. The corrupt world needs the flavor that only Christianity can supply. If Christians lost that flavor where will the world get it? “You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.” Here salt means the purity of life. The ancient world regarded salt as the purest of all things because it is created by two of the purest things: the sun and the sea. Jesus says that Christians must have the purifying quality of salt in themselves. Only the life that is emptied of self and filled with Christ can really live in peace with their fellow humans.

Grace and Peace to You My Friends 

I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

 

When Jesus spoke again to the people he said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Do you ever wonder exactly what God wants you to do, especially when you have so many options and demands to manager? By being in God’s word and allowing it to drench your very soul, we do walk with Jesus in the light. As we look around this world right we are, we can see the pain of hurt, despair, disappointment in someone eyes as well as reading it on someone’s face. You can be the very light in which Jesus’ talks about, and the ways are sharing your own faith with someone. Telling someone how much Jesus loves them with no strings attach. How about listening to another person, sometimes that is all that they want from someone else to hear the pain or perhaps the disappointment they are feeling.  When you see someone all by themselves away from everyone else go up to them and start a simply conversation, and be a friend to them, sometimes that is all they need, and by doing so you are also bless. God places people in our own lives for a reason, sometimes it maybe a day, a week, a season in our own lives, however God always has a plan for our lives. Although we all have the very long to do list of things we seem we have to get done, don’t allow special moments of people in your life to slip by. When God allows us to be the light with him in this very dark world don’t fret over a to do list, just allow His Spirit to guide you in your journey.

The Pharisees challenged Jesus. Here you are, appearing as your own witness, your testimony is not valid. Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.  You judge by human standards, I pass judgement on no one.                               (John 8: 13-15)

You can come to Jesus just the way you are, you don’t need to clean up your act, like some may say to you. He is not judging you or me of our pass sins, so just come towards the light, to the one who is the Light of this World.

 

Grace and Peace to You My Friends