Matthew 5:13-20
Reflect
As we continue reading the Sermon on the Mount, we begin to realize, slowly but surely, who we are and who we are not. We begin to see our own spiritual bankruptcy in the same way that the disciples and perhaps those in the crowds started to see themselves.
Jesus points out that they mustn’t lose their saltiness and light; He also says that their righteousness must exceed the religious people of the day in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. How impossible! Perhaps Jesus is alluding to something deeper.
It’s easy for anyone to say that people should move from external obedience to an obedience motivated by our love for the Lord. But this is impossible unless Jesus changes and transforms the heart from spiritual bankruptcy to spiritual harmony. If and when that occurs, powerful work happens in the human heart. Followers of Jesus become divinely distinctive in the workplace, schools, families, grocery store check-out lines etc. They become salty in a tasteless world; they become light in a dark world.
Apply
Ask the Holy Spirit to continue changing your heart, that He would build character within you that will lead to saltiness and light to those around you.
Not only are we distinct, but we have a distinctive mission in the world. In what ways is the Holy Spirit inviting you into this distinctive mission?
Pastor Nathanael
Pray
- Pray for our childcare team, the children and their families this week. Pray for the Director, Angie Clark.
- Pray for our Lead Team Pastor, Terry Okken and his family.
- Pray for our Missions Ministry Assistant, Oleksandr Lushchyk.
- Pray for our Young Adults Ministry Assistant, Shone Williams.