“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. – Matthew 5:13

Did you ever wonder why God doesn’t simply catch us up into His presence in eternity immediately upon conversion? Why is it that we are on the earth in the midst of a faithless generation? The answer is found in Matthew 5.

Jesus calls us the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World. What does salt do? There are many spiritual parallels between actual salt and spiritual salt. In Jesus’ day they used salt to preserve perishable foods. They also saw the benefits of using salt as a healing agent. Salt in an open wound is painful and yet it helps the healing process. Finally, what happens to someone when they have a lot of salt? THEY GET THIRSTY! We are called to be the flavor of God so that people would taste the goodness of Christ and want more! If there were no Christians on the earth, who would make unbelievers thirsty for Jesus and then be available to lead them to the Fountain of Living Waters?

He also calls us the Light of the World. We are to shine as lights in the world in order to guide the lost to the refuge of the Savior’s arms.

We are not to hide our light or to let it flicker out. We also need to stay flavorful. How does salt lose flavor? When it is compromised and mixed with other things. It’s the same with Christians, when we mix with the wrong “flavors” we lose the flavor of Christ and we are left as useless.

Take note that Jesus says that we are LIGHT. Light is seen, not heard. We are to live a life that screams Jesus without even using words. It should be obvious in our conduct. He didn’t say you are the “mega-phone” of the world. I myself can sometimes become too much talk and not enough action. Let’s take the task that Jesus has given us seriously so that unbelievers will taste our saltiness and see our light proclaiming that the Lord is good. Do you want to be flavorless and dim or salty and bright?

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16