MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Opening Prayer
Lord, may Your Word be a lamp to my feet and a light to my path today (Psa. 119:105).
Read Matthew 5:13–16
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
It’s easy to be passive in life and faith. But listen to Jesus: he made you to make a difference.esus knew how to use simple analogies to help us learn and grow. In these verses he offers two common features of life as reminders: plain salt and the simple light of lamps. Salt flavors and preserves food. Light offers illumination and orientation. Each is ordinary, yet they make life work, both then and now.
Jesus used this pairing of salt and light to offer a single lesson about the life of faith. Salt is useful with food, lights illuminate rooms, believers display the Father. And just as the mixed dirt and salt at the bottom of the salt barrel will be useless, or a lamp covered by a box is wasted, so, too, a disciple who doesn’t express a devotion to the Father is just as senseless.
Why this lesson? Because many of us feel like we’re ordinary. We can be passive because no one really notices us. Yet Jesus tells us otherwise: each of us is made for a purpose, and when we live a life of faith it causes others to “glorify your Father in heaven” (16).
Apply
As one who knows and loves Jesus, what opportunities is he giving you today? How will Jesus show off his Father through you?
Closing prayer
Jesus, teach me how to be Your light to the world today, to be the salt that brings the flavor to life
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