Salt and Light

There are a lot of things not being done the way I think they should be done, and I want to holler and crash around and make everybody listen up and start behaving properly (my way).

Thankfully, somehow Our Father speaks through the red haze and I hear Jesus say, “You are the salt of the earth but if salt has lost its savor it is not good for anything but to be cast out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid, nor do men light a lamp and place it under a basket. Rather they put it on a lamp stand and it gives light to the whole house. Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.” (Paraphrased. Matthew 5:13-16)

Now I have been hearing this for some time and I think it’s beginning to sink in, a little. What I am realizing is that salt and light are very quiet. We need light and if it is not there, we notice that. We need salt, especially with potatoes and eggs. Still these things are quiet and don’t make a production of themselves.

Salt and light are simply what they are supposed to be. They don’t insist that others be what they are, they just are.

As a follower of Jesus, there are many things that I am supposed to be: humble, meek, merciful and loving just to name a few. But I cannot by force require anyone else to aspire and strive for these virtues. If Jesus is my Lord by the voluntary surrender of my will, then His will becomes my delight.

Salt is salty. Salt is sodium chloride and as long as it is not diluted it will always be salty. The problem arises when you put not enough salt on too many potatoes, or dilute the salt until only a little salt is mixed with too much of anything else. The same thing is true of light. On the sunniest day you can go inside and close yourself off from the light and be in the dark, but the sun is still shining bright.

My own will, especially my self-righteous religious will, is the greatest hindrance or diluting factor to my being salt and light. Hollering, crashing around and insisting that everyone else behave is the opposite of being salt and light.

Will others get what I am doing? I don’t know but that is not the point. The point is, Will I be salt and light?

Will you?