MONDAY May 15th
Matthew 5:1-2
‘Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying . . .’
Over the next few devotions I am going to take us through some of the statements we see in what we call the Sermon on the Mount, the teaching that Jesus gave to the disciples as recorded for us in Matthew chapter 5 through to chapter 7
It has been said that God instructed the Children of Israel from a mountain when he gave to them through Moses, the ten commandments and here in Matthew, Jesus is instructing, although initially to the disciples, but eventually for us who would be his followers, also from a mountain as he gives us his commandments, what we could call the golden rules which we need to follow as his followers.
The first few verses cover what we call the Beatitudes or the beautiful attitudes, that will bring blessing to those who demonstrate the various qualities spoken about such as ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’, but for the purpose of these devotions I will start at Matthew 5 verses 13-16, where Jesus
talks about salt and light. To start with v13 ‘You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.’
I am one of those people who loves salt on my food, in fact I always say that chips are not chips until they have plenty of salt and vinegar on them. Without salt they are not what they are meant to be. And we are called to be salt and salt
gives flavour, salt gives savour, salt is also good for preserving.
I remember growing up on the farm, long before we had a freezer, that we used to have meat hanging up in the garage or in one of the outbuildings and it would be plastered or smothered with salt, the salt worked by preserving the meat until it was ready to be used and cooked for a meal.
We are not what we should be as Christians if we are not salt! Salt is a precious commodity and we as the children of God are precious to him, but we are also a
precious commodity that is very much needed in the world around us today even if the world does not appreciate us!
We need to be, we must be the salt that is so much needed today, whether it be in the classroom, the workplace, the neighbourhood, or when we mix socially, so that we can be the savour that is so much needed in this unsavoury world around us. It means that we speak up when we need to, or we refuse to partake if we need to, we make sure that we are men and women who will preserve the truth and the integrity of the gospel by the lives we are living.