THANKFUL

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Lord, as Your followers, we are to be the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). Our spiritual salt, dispersed by the Holy Spirit, preserves our faith and upholds Your values as well as adding zest, peace, and living hope to our life and the lives of others in our world. But we must remember another characteristic of salt: salt kills. Nothing grows where salt has polluted the soil.  Once fertile fields can lie in waste for decades after being sown with salt. Therefore, we must be cautious how much salt we spread when we share Your message of redemption through the cross. Give us godly wisdom to keep our zeal for the Gospel under control.  The devil tempts our pride to point a finger and compare our self-righteousness against those poor souls who “have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  Lord, may we not fall into that ugly sin. When speaking to someone who is seeking You, help us keep our spiritual salt focused on Your grace and mercy. That message gives hope. When we harp on the flaws of our fellow man and emphasize how horrible their sins and failures are, and then take Scripture out of context about how You hate sin, our excessive salt piles more guilt on them, and “Boom!” just like that, we’ve killed our message, hitting ‘em on the head with the entire salt lick. Lord, help us spread our salt in ways that draw people to You.

Striving to be the salt of the earth You called us to be, Jesus. Amen.