Woo hoo! Its Friday, and I can’t be more happy about that. I have a day with lots of talking in front of me so I found these words to be helpful to me today. Hopefully you find them a little motivating as well.
6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:6 (New International Version)
Be salty and full of grace!
Yesterday I was blessed to be able to spend 5 hours driving back home from Columbia, SC alone – just me and my truck! It would stand to reason then that I would have conjured up some great revelation or antidote after all that great thinking time. Well, that’s just it. I am really stuck this week on the whole idea of being salt – of being all in. My thoughts actually moved a little bit to Luke 14:33 – the cost of being all in, but I am not really sure that I am ready to write anything about that!
So, today, I continue to think about being salt and being light. I wish I could write today and say – here is what this means, here is the practical application of this lesson, of this encouragement. However, the best I can come up with is to impact for good those who are directly in your path. Don’t hide it, don’t put it under a basket, but shine and do good to each person you come in contact with. Remember earlier in the week, I mentioned my sister-in-law and the job she does with the chorus. Here is a practical application of someone doing all they can to make those around her better. I am sure that on some days her students may not agree with this, but she gives everything she can to bring out the best is those students. That’s one way to be salty.
So I apologize if today seems a little redundant, however, I think it’s worth repeating – remember “Are you really listening, really listening”. So, study your life today and look for ideas and ways you can be salt and light! If you don’t mind share it in the comment section on the blog.
Matthew 5:13-16
13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.14“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.New International Version (NIV)
“Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.14-16“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.The Message (MSG)
I Love the beach. I am so looking forward to my time there again this summer ( hopefully, not covering in tar and oil from that sunken rig). Anyway, as a lot of you do, I really enjoy my time at the ocean on the beach – the sand, the smell, the warmth, the sun, the salt. The Salt. As much as it’s a little trendy, I like these Salt Life stickers people have on their vehicles.
I like them because they are a reminder to me – a reminder of the ocean and a reminder of a message for life. This week I have continually been thinking about Luke 14 and the message there about living the Salt Life.
34“Salt is excellent. But if the salt goes flat, it’s useless, good for nothing. “Are you listening to this? Really listening?” The Message
Flat salt is good for nothing. Some other translations say its not even good for the manure pile!
34“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” New International Version (NIV)
I don’t think I want to have a life that is not even good enough for the manure pile!
I am trying to be salty. I am trying to live the salt life and to impact people – by expressing love and concern for them. By being the spice that makes things better. This is so important that the Christ even asks “Hey – do you hear this? – BE SALTY” .
So today slap that Salt Life tag on your vehicle, on your surfboard, on your keyboard, on your whiteboard, or in the board room. Dream of the ocean and lazy days in the surf, but also, impact others by being the salt of life.
Today I engaged that in that old battle. One that I have engaged in many times over the last several years. The battle with the hotel iron. Yes, thats right, the battle with the iron to get your clothes presentable after squooshing them in the luggage!
This morning I thought I had it whipped. I put in some water, turned in on high and when to town on my shirt, only to see wrinkles that would not go away. Argh! I really hate to iron anyway, its a neccassity of life, that I find so mundane. So, back to the story, I then reallized, that is was not producing enough steam. I puledl it into the sink, filled it to overflowing with water, and then though the cloud of mist and steam, I could see a nice flat pressed shirt appearing on the iron board.
Aren’t we like that some times. Just not full enough to be effective? There’s nothing more irrating then ironing with a cold iron – ironing with an iron that is not operational. Whats the purpose? Its a waste of time. There is no impact on the clothes. You can press harder, move it faster or yell at it, and it doesn’t matter, a cold iron is just that – a cold iron.
In the famous sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, Jesus mentions something like this:
13“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
He tells us that we are to be effective, useful and impact others. Today, don’t be unsalty salt, don’t be an unlit candle, don’t be a cold iron. Fill yourself up, turn the steam on high, and impact what you touch.