Scripture Scribbles: February 5, 2023
the Gospel
Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father."
the devotion
“You are the salt of the earth”
I love that Jesus is telling his disciples this! I love this description of someone. I feel like I use it infrequently, but when I do use it, I mean it. I might say “she’s great, real salt of the earth!” or “He’s a real ‘salt of the earth’ kind of guy.” If I say this, I mean it sincerely, but I never really connected it to the biblical meaning, I do feel as though, that's how I'm using it. To describe that person who is GOOD, authentic, kind, sincere….you know, acts in the way Jesus would.
When I see these good qualities in others, do I praise them? Or praise their creator? When I receive blessings, you know, those little gifts that delight us, do I praise the blessing or the One who sent it? Jesus is very intentional with the words he uses to teach his disciples what He wants of them. Salt and Light. He wants his followers to be salt and light.
I always think of salt as enhancing the flavors in a dish…I love it when my husband and I go out to eat and get a chance to sit near the kitchen and watch the chefs do their magic. They salt the water before adding the pasta, they throw salt in the savory sauce, they grind it onto steak, they sprinkle it onto fish. Every bite is enhanced, they know how to use the perfect amount to bring out the natural goodness and make it more delicious.. So by being salt, Jesus is saying “bring out others’ goodness!” live in a way that others' lives are enhanced. Live in a way that looks different. Live in a way that, like salt, increases others' sweetness. (This reminds me of my dad adding salt to his watermelon and claiming…”it really brings out the flavor.”) Imagine bringing out the goodness, the sweetness, the savoriness in others just by being salt?
Another thing salt does is preserve food…again, this faith of ours, isn't it so worth preserving? Here we are 2000+ years after Jesus walked on this earth and we are still reading about the instructions he was giving his disciples. Be, Salt and Light.
Light, ‘the light of the world.’ I remember back when my kids all attended my mom’s nursery school, over the course of 13 consecutive years. At the end of every school year we would all look forward to ‘Parents Day.’ All the parents would sit in their seats and watch as there 3, 4, and 5 year olds would single file walk down the aisles with their class holding in their cute little hands their “Light” (a recycled toilet paper roll with a red, orange, and yellow flame made of tissue paper) singing “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” The cuteness was beyond words! And there they were, “the lights of the world”...the lights of our world! All the parents would be beaming and smiling, and yes, sometimes crying at our little ones holding their flames and singing “we won’t let anyone (blow) it out”…..while they blew at their tissue paper flame.
I hope you all have the visual, but my point is, have you let anyone blow out your flame? Has your light dimmed over time? Would you like to set it back on the lampstand? Take it out from under its bushel basket?
It’s His light we must reflect, His light that we want to let shine through us, through goodness, tenderness, generosity, these are things that will glorify our heavenly Father. So let’s light up this big, beautiful world of ours and let’s never lose our Saltiness.
Today’s devotion was written by Beth Brennan
