Salt and Light

Read: Matthew 5

"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48

Examine:

God did not send Jesus to live a sinless life and conquer death so that He could lower His standards to accommodate man. In Jesus, God gave us His very best and raised His level of expectation. It only makes sense that He would do this. Followers of Christ have access to power that the people of God before Christ never had. We have grace. We have the indwelling of the Spirit. We have the rights of sons and daughters. Grace in Christ Jesus is not a license to live a loose life of relaxed standards. It is a call to live a life of salt and light in the world.

Apply:

The end result for my life is that I pursue perfection in Christ so that I can be salt and light to the world. Salt has three affects. It provides taste, it serves as a preservative, and it creates thirst. As I live out my days on earth the perfection of Christ in me should bring taste to bland lives, preserve those who are striving forward, and create a thirst for all to experience more of Christ.

Light also has three affects. It creates warmth, it provides direction, and overcomes darkness. The result of following after Christ is light shining from my life. This light is intended to provide warmth, direction, and something to overcome darkness. The affects of religion are the opposite of this as it creates coldness, distorts direction, and creates darkness. God's mission for my life is to bring light to the world, not religion.

Pray:

Father,

I am sitting here this morning and finding it a struggle to connect my feelings to words that will adequately describe the hunger I have to go deeper with You. There is power inside of me that is yet to be tapped. There are reservoirs of life that lie hidden behind false religion and unnecessary guilt. There is freedom that I routinely give away to foolish lusts and sinful tolerances.

I want to be perfect as You are perfect. I want my life to represent true salt and light in the world. Take my life and have it as You desire. I pray that Your voice will continue to lead me, that Your Spirit will continue to empower me, and that Your Son will continue to radiate through me. Overwhelm the things that hold me back from attaining perfection and remind me that my perfection is in Christ and not in myself.