Salt and Light

So I have decided to start a new project with this blog for at least two weeks. Melissa and I had a great Christmas. We got to spend time with family and friends back in OK. It was great to be home. Presents are not everything at Christmas but we got some cool stuff. One of things that I got is this bible software (that I love! Thanks Allen) and I am able to highlight certain things and instantly create a bible reading plan. I decided that I wanted to read through the parables of Jesus so I created a plan that leads me through the parables for the next two weeks. I decided that I want to share my thoughts on these parables on my blog. After all these are everyday happenings of my wife and I, and my bible reading should be an everyday happening (which it is not). So if I miss a day please message me and tell me to read my bible (you can even call me a heathen to get the point across).

By no means am I a theologian, so feel free to comment and correct me if I have made a theological error. I imagine most of the thoughts will be raw and just flow, and I don't always know how my mind will flow. I do hope that these thoughts are inspirational, challenging, and not boring. These thoughts might only be two sentences or two pages, I understand if you give up and quit reading in the middle of a particularly long thought (you might have already given up reading this intro). So with no further explanation his is my first parable that I have read today.

Salt and Light - Matthew 5:13-16

Salt was known for flavoring and preserving food. It's used for the same thing today. When I think of salt I always pair it with food. Whether it be boiling a pot of water and I throw a little salt in to give the water a little extra flavor, or it could even be sprinkling salt on some eggs and hash browns to bring out the flavor of morning on a plate.

As I sit here and think about salt and light I think about how crucial these two things are to our world. We need a certain amount of salt in our body to survive (I'm pretty sure), and we definitely need light so that we can see. There are some creatures that survive without light, like those blind fish that live in caves. They look creepy. It makes me think even if we did survive without any salt and light the world would be a pretty boring place. Food would be bland and not as enjoyable even if you only like a little bit of salt. It would also be dark and I imagine cold since our light source is from the sun. But lets say hypothetically even if the physical earth remained warm without the sun and it was just dark. We would never be able to see beauty. Nature, loved ones, art! We would be missing one of our senses. Sight! Jesus gave sight to the blind...I think it might be worth something.

Not even thinking of the physical world. Lets go metaphorical with this. Jesus tells us that we are the salt and light of the world. Not world as in the planet Earth (rock, grass, magma, etc.) but the world as in people (heart, soul, mind, and body). As Christians we are called to lead people to refuge. A city on a hill cannot be hidden so we are not meant to hide. We are called to a purpose. To give some flavor to the world, to preserve the world, and to guide the world.

Now I know that in the past Christians have tended to make a bad name for themselves at time. They haven't necessarily always given the world some flavor. And we know what has happened to this salt that has lost it's flavor....it got thrown out and trampled upon by men. It is important that we receive our flavor from God. Salt and light are created things...neither of these things have existed infinitely. They were created to fulfill certain needs....to make my eggs taste better, and to make sure that I can actually see that I am eating eggs. We are also created things that are meant to live life through our creator. When we are connected to our God, then we are flavoring, preserving, and guiding the world.