Grace Restoration Ministries

 

[Jesus said] “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. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV).

 

As Jesus gathered the multitudes for what we have come to know as “the Sermon on the Mount,” he began to renew the intent of creation for mankind. Our reading today is found at the beginning of Matthew’s account of that great teaching. Without reiterating the common understanding of the importance of both salt and light, let me simply say that they are essentials of life as we know it. Without either life would go way beyond inconvenient, becoming intolerable.

 

On this second day of the Lenten Season we should recognize the choice we have been given through our gift of eternal life. We may rejoice in this day, knowing it is filled with the opportunities to preserve the grace of God for ourselves and others, as well as provide the guidance and example to bring others to that preservation.  With the dawning of each new day in this world, God invites us to enter His kingdom and to choose life.

 

Traditionally during the season of Lent we should spend time meditating on God’s word.

God does call us to obedience, but first His call is to love. The first and greatest commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all our mind”. Obedience and love seem to be opposites. God does call us to obedience, but first His call is to love. This is the greatest commandment, to love. Once we love, obedience will follow effortlessly. God doesn’t force His will on anyone. He allows us to decide whether to follow him and choose life in all its fullness.

 

As your day progresses with every new situation and circumstance, stop, think, pray and choose again to follow the giver of life, Jesus. Walking together through this Lenten journey with that goal in mind I pray that our love for others will blossom and flourish as never before. If ever there was a time for that kind of salt and light, this is surely such a time. While we may not be able to change the world, we can season our part of it with spiritual salt and shed the revealing light of God as we walk in it. Make that your commitment today.