Salt and light. Jesus used these two to illustrate the character and impact that His people should have. He said: “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” Why did Jesus use salt and light? What did He mean by that? The answer is found in another question: What purpose do salt and light serve? What makes them so special? Why do we use them? The reason salt is salt is because of its difference, its contrast in taste with other things. It has a special impact on our taste buds. Light is light because of its difference, contrast toward the darkness. Light overpowers the darkness. Light get’s rid of darkness. Jesus used salt and light because His people are to be different from the world. We are to be transformed from the world. We are to be a contrast against the world. We are to follow God’s will for us and not the world’s. I am to be salt and light in the way I act, talk, dress, think, work. In my family, in my marriage. My view of sin.There has to be a clear difference between me and the world.
With that, Jesus gives us a warning about if we fail to be the salt and light of the world in Matthew 5:13-16… “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
If we are not different from the world, then we’re not salt and we’re not light. What makes salt and light useful is the contrast that they give. Jesus said that if salt loses its flavor and if light is hidden then they are useless. They fail to serve the purpose for which they were created. We have to live differently from the world. If we’re not living differently from the world then we’re just like the world. We’re still in our sins. To be salt and light we have to get rid of sin and live in God’s righteousness. If we are living for God then others will see us as salt and light. We will have a godly impact. We will be what God wants us to be.
Are you salty? Are you bright? Are you the salt and the light that Jesus has called you to be? Let’s examine ourselves and make sure we still have our flavor. Let’s make sure our lights are not being hidden. Do you want to please God? Then be salt and light. Do you want to lead others to Christ? Then be salt and light. Do not be conformed to this world; transform and be different.
A Cord of Blue 