SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/23/2020 10:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Plan: The Dominion of His Disciples”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 5:13-16
Message of the verses: “13 "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. 14 “You are the
light of the world; A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives
light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that
they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
I
stated at the end of our last SD that we would begin this one by looking more
at the word “are.” “Are stresses being
rather than doing. Jesus is stating a
fact, not giving a command or request.
Salt and light represent what Christians are. The only question, as
Jesus goes on to say, is whether or not we are tasteful salt and effective
light. The very fact that we belong to
Jesus Christ makes us His salt and light in the world.”
Looking
at this last quotation from John MacArthur we can come to the conclusion that
it is Jesus Christ who is the source of our savor and also of our light. John 1:9 tells us “There was the true Light
which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” John 9:5 states “"While I am in the
world, I am the Light of the world.’”
Since Jesus has left the world, and since we are His body here on earth,
and since Jesus stated that it was better that He left this world so that His
followers would give out the good news, we are to shine forth the reflected
light of Christ. In Ephesians Paul tells
us “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8), and then in Colossians 1:13 Paul
writes “Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us
into the kingdom of his dear Son” (AKJV).
Let
us take a more closely look at salt and light, which we as believers are. Salt retards corruption as we have stated,
and light reveals truth. One of the
functions is negative, and the other is positive. One of them is silent, while the other is
verbal. By the indirect influence of the
way that we live we can retard corruption, and then by the direct influence of
what we say we manifest light. Perhaps
in the country that I live in believers are not using enough salt and light,
and perhaps the reason is that Christians are having too much fun and not being
serious enough to what is going on around us.
John
MacArthur writes “But salt and light are unlike that which they are to
influence. God has changed us from being
part of the corrupted and corrupting world to being salt that can help preserve
it. He has changed us from our own
darkness to be His agents of giving light to others. By definition, and influence must be
different from that which it influences, and Christians therefore must be
different from the world they are called in influence. We cannot influence the world for God when we
are worldly ourselves. We cannot give
light to the world if we revert to places and ways of darkness ourselves.
“The
great blessings emphasized in verses 3-12 lead to the great responsibility of
verses 13-16. The blessings of heaven,
comfort, inheriting the earth, being filled with righteousness, being given
mercy, being called God’s children, and being given heavenly reward bring the
responsibility of being His salt and light in the world.”
Spiritual meaning for my life: I am salt and I am light and so it would be
best if I use both salt and light as I live my life in this very evil world
that I am living in.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to
remember what I have learned from the eight Beatitudes as seen in the last
paragraph that I quoted from John MacArthur.
6/23/2020 11:22 AM
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