Page 023 - Salt that Enlightens
*Verses from AMP
"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltiness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your [a]moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and [b]recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven (Amp: Matthew 5:13-16)."
Usually when we think about salt it is because of its preserving qualities. We all know how it was used to keep meat fresh and stop decay. It has a purifying affect because it kills germs. Since we live in a world full of corruption and decay we need to be the salt of the earth among our families, neighborhoods, and cities. The more Christians live out Christ according to His divine life and nature, the more there will be a positive effect on the people around us stemming the tide of decay.
Even more so, some people will be enlightened because of their contact with us. Due to what they see in us, there will be a shining which cannot be hidden. Our good deeds will inspire others and awaken them to the injustices in the world. This is the most effective way to deal with our decaying morality and subverted views of right and wrong. As the light, we help make others lucid regarding God's righteousness and their responsibility toward other human beings.
As it is written, "[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining [against God] and questioning and doubting [among yourselves],That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guiltless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world (Amp: Philipians 2:13-15)."