Saturday, April 13, 2013

Being the Salt and Light

UV 723/10,000 Being the Salt and Light “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Matthew 5 v 13 Jesus used the metaphor of salt and light to compare His followers to. We hold the light of His positivity in us. We hold out hope for people to overcome death and the fear of death that rules all mankind since Adam. We are not to restrain that light within us but give it out all the time in all possible ways. We are a city built on a hill. The rock mountain is Jesus and we are the city being built on that foundation. Like light we bring hidden truths of God and life so that they become visible and known to all. What we see is our vision. Being the light implies we hold on to our vision. The vision is to be the light. At the time Jesus used the metaphor of salt, people did not know the chemical structure of salt. Today, we know that two negatives or two poisons combine at the molecular level to form edible salt. Similarly, we must negate the negatives that are in us and in our environment, whether it is a product of pride or lust. We need to position ourselves as problem-solvers in this darkened world. By the force of our faith, prayer and the Spirit of God, we focus and destroy evil within and without. The solutions we find for the world’s problems are like the salt- they will add taste to life. Whatever salt is added to, becomes tasteful. Similarly, whatever we add our abilities and our efforts will become tasteful. They will preserve the character of generations of mankind. Like salt is added in appropriate quantities, we too need to add faith to our contexts in appropriate times and contexts lest it becomes too salty to be even tasted. Once the Lord revealed that “the structure of salt is crystalline and will not mix with the dust and dirt of the earth. “ Similarly, we too should not get our lives soiled by the dust and dirt of the earth and maintain our clean, crystalline character. What we do is our mission. The mission is to be the salt. Like light and salt, we will have a pervasive but invisible influence that permeates all spheres and domains of life. When the people of the city of Jericho told Elisha that the water of the spring that gave water to the city was bad and that made the land unproductive, the prophet asked for a bowl of salt. He went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, and confirmed that the Lord had healed the water and that it would not again cause death or make the land unproductive. The water has remained wholesome to this day. Similarly, today education, politics, society, economy, media and all sectors of life have become afflicted by bad water that makes it unproductive. The salt of faith in the Word of God needs to be added to cause healing forever and to make it productive and wholesome. This is our “ negative-negative” mission we are called to. Our daily walk should reflect these twin missions: to be the light and to be the salt to this world. Prateep V Philip

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