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 men light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
When Jesus uses the “salt” and “light” analogies, I think he is assuming relationships. After all, the salt must come into contact with the meat to either preserve it from corruption – or to give it added flavor. Light must be seen by others in order to show the way. I think Jesus is telling us that we are to have influence for him through our relationships.
We all have circles of relationships. Think of your life right now; it’s very likely that you move in several circles of relationships every week. You have relationships in within your neighborhood, school, work, church, youth sports – all kinds of relationships. Each of these can become spheres of influence where we become the “salt” and “light” Jesus is talking about.
If you are like me, you find that some of these circles are more difficult than others in terms of influence. In fact, you may find that in some cases, you are the one being influenced rather than the one doing the influencing! You may spend a portion of your life in a work or school environment where the conversation and atmosphere is quite contrary to the “fruit of the Spirit” – or to the salt and light Jesus is talking about. You may feel like you have little chance or ability to have influence at all!
But Jesus wants you to know that you can and do have influence! You can be salt by simply refusing to use the same profane or vulgar language used by co-workers or fellow students. You can be light through an act of kindness or a word of encouragement. You can have influence by simply treating people as Jesus would treat them – even without ever mentioning his name directly.
The key is, as Jesus says, to stay “salty,” and it all starts with Faith @ Home!
- At home we learn to make God’s word part of our lives.
- At home we learn that prayer is a living relationship with God – not just a religious activity.
- At home we grow the fruit of the Spirit.
- At home we learn to serve each other – and therefore learn to serve the world.
Brian Coffey
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