SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/30/2020 10:34 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The
Problem: Danger of Failure”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt. 5:13b
Message of the
verse: “but if the salt has become
tasteless, how will it be made salty again?
It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled
under foot by men.”
In Palestine much of the salt used there was found along
the Dead Sea and it was contaminated with gypsum along with other minerals that
can make the taste of it flat and even repulsive. When people got some of this bad tasting salt
they would not just throw it out of their house on the dirt around it for that
would kill the dirt and they could not plant anything there. They would throw it on a path of on a hole in
the road where it would get ground up into the dirt there.
MacArthur writes “There is a sense in which salt cannot
really become unsalty. But contamination
can cause it to lose its value as salt.
Its saltiness can no longer function.”
We
can be sure that Jesus is not talking about losing salvation as God does not
allow any of His own to be taken from Him.
Let us look now at John 10:27-30 “27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know
them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will
never perish; and no one
will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them
to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them
out of the Father’s hand.” Salt
cannot lose its saltiness as true believers cannot lose their salvation. However Christians can lose their value and
effectiveness in the kingdom when sin and also worldliness contaminate their
lives. In a similar way when salt
becomes tasteless when it is contaminated so when Christians are involved in
the world and sinfulness they too can lose their testimony to those around
them. This truth can be seen in Romans
7:15-25 and also 2 Peter 1:9-10 “9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or
short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10
Therefore, brethren, be
all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing
you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;”
The
following two paragraphs from John MacArthur’s commentary I have highlighted
and believe that they are very important to me and hopefully will be for you as
I quote them: “With great responsibility
there is often great danger. We cannot
be an influence for purity in the world if we have compromised our own
purity. We cannot sting the world’s
conscience if we continually go against our own. We cannot stimulate thirst for righteousness
if we have lost our own. We cannot be
used of God to retard the corruption of sin in the world if our own lives
become corrupted by sin. To lose our
saltiness is not to lose our salvation, but it is to los our effectiveness and
to become disqualified for service (see 1 Cor. 9:27).
“Pure salt does not lose its saltiness,
that which makes it valuable and effective.
Christians who are pure in heart do not become ‘tasteless,’ ineffective
and useless in the kingdom of God.”
Now
we want to move onto looking again at light as it too is in danger of becoming useless. Similar to salt light cannot lose its essential
nature. Even if a light is hidden it is
still light, but a hidden light is a useless light. This is why people do not “light a lamp, and
put it under the peck-measure, but on a lampstand; and it gives light to all
who are in the house.” One of the great proverbs is Proverbs 31 and
we see in verse 31 that the woman does not let her lamp go out at night “She
senses that her gain is good; Her lamp does not go out at night.” This gave illumination for anyone in her
household who wanted to get up at night.
A hidden light cannot even be used to read by; as it helps neither the
person who hides it nor anyone else.
MacArthur
concludes “Whether we hide our light because of fear of offending others,
because of indifference and lovelessness, or because of anything else, we
demonstrate unfaithfulness to the Lord.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I surely learned something about salt in this
SD and it is a good lesson to learn when compared to my salvation which is a
gift from God that cannot be taken away, but it can be tarnished if I don’t
tell others about it or if I am sinful and worldly.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Confess my sin and keep a short list with the
Lord and tell others about the gift of salvation.
6/30/2020 11:14 AM
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