Bible League: Living His Word "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its taste, it cannot be made salty again. Salt is useless if it loses its salty taste. It will be thrown out where people will just walk on it."What is salt? Salt is a crystalline compound that occurs as a mineral and is used primarily in food preparation. It both seasons food and preserves food. Jesus used "salt" as a metaphor for the way His disciples should relate to the world. As a seasoning for the world, the disciples of Jesus would transform the world into something good that would please the Lord. As a preservative for the world, the disciples of Jesus would preserve what is still good in the world from further corruption. If, however, salt loses its taste, which could actually happen to the salt of Palestine, then it cannot fulfill its seasoning and preservative functions. With respect to the disciples of Jesus, this would mean that they have lost their spiritual distinctiveness and vigor and are no longer capable of transforming the world into something that God finds pleasing. It would also mean that they are no longer capable of preserving whatever is still good in the world from further corruption. Salt that has lost its distinctive properties is, as a consequence, useless in food preparation. When the salt of Palestine lost its saltiness, it was thrown out into the streets where it was trodden under foot. With respect to the disciples of Jesus, this would mean that they are useless as a transformative and preservative force in the world. As such, their ultimate destination is to be thrown out of the church of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. Instead of being lifted up and being made to shine like stars forever and ever as will the true disciples of Jesus (Daniel 12:3), such false disciples will be cast down and treated with utter contempt in hell. As Christians, we are supposed to be the salt of the earth; we are supposed to be a transformative and preservative force in the world. Today, go forth as the true salt of the world. Within the sphere God has placed you, large or small, transform what needs transforming and preserve what needs preserving. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Kings 19, 20 1 Kings 19 -- Elijah Flees Jezebel; Elisha Called NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Kings 20 -- Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria, Defeated by Ahab; Ahab Condemned NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 2 John 2 -- Wedding at Cana; Jesus Clears the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion I create the light and make the darkness.I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things. Insight God is ruler over light and darkness, over prosperity and disaster. Our lives are sprinkled with both types of experiences, and both are needed for us to grow spiritually. Challenge When good times come, thank God and use your prosperity for him. When bad times come, don't resent them, but ask what you can learn from this refining experience to make you a better servant of God. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Songs 7:11,12 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field ... let us see if the vine flourish.The church was about to engage in earnest labor, and desired her Lord's company in it. She does not say, "I will go," but "let us go." It is blessed working when Jesus is at our side! It is the business of God's people to be trimmers of God's vines. Like our first parents, we are put into the garden of the Lord for usefulness; let us therefore go forth into the field. Observe that the church, when she is in her right mind, in all her many labors desires to enjoy communion with Christ. Some imagine that they cannot serve Christ actively, and yet have fellowship with him: they are mistaken. Doubtless it is very easy to fritter away our inward life in outward exercises, and come to complain with the spouse, "They made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept;" but there is no reason why this should be the case except our own folly and neglect. Certain is it that a professor may do nothing, and yet grow quite as lifeless in spiritual things as those who are most busy. Mary was not praised for sitting still; but for her sitting at Jesus' feet. Even so, Christians are not to be praised for neglecting duties under the pretence of having secret fellowship with Jesus: it is not sitting, but sitting at Jesus' feet which is commendable. Do not think that activity is in itself an evil: it is a great blessing, and a means of grace to us. Paul called it a grace given to him to be allowed to preach; and every form of Christian service may become a personal blessing to those engaged in it. Those who have most fellowship with Christ are not recluses or hermits, who have much time to spare, but indefatigable laborers who are toiling for Jesus, and who, in their toil, have him side by side with them, so that they are workers together with God. Let us remember then, in anything we have to do for Jesus, that we can do it, and should do it in close communion with him. Daily Light on the Daily Path John 6:20 But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."Revelation 1:17,18 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, • and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 6:5-7 Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." • Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. • He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven." Isaiah 44:22 "I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." 1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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