Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16

1. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

2. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

3. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

4. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Biblical uses for salt.

1. Salt was used in offerings and sacrifices.

Leviticus 2:13

Mark 9:49

1. Salt was used to make incense for the Tabernacle.

Exodus 30:34-35

1. Salt was used in covenants.

II Chronicles 13:5

1. Salt was used to destroy fields where crops were planted. The salt would mix with the soil and when water would get into the soil it would cause the water to become salt-water meaning no crops could grow in those fields.

Judges 9:45

1. Salt was used as an antiseptic and wound cleansing agent.

Ezekiel 16:4

1. Salt was used to season food. Even as far back as Job, which is widely considered the oldest book in the Bible, salt is mentioned as part of the culinary world.

Job 6:6

1. Salt was also commonly used, and in some cases still is today, as a preservative for meats. In times before refrigeration, meats could become rancid within a short time of being processed. In order to delay the progress of this decay in the meat, salt would be poured on and rubbed into the meat and the meat would be dried. This preservation would extend the life of the meat far beyond what was normally expected without preservation.

Now, the most interesting thing about salt and light is that neither of them are greatly effective in singular amounts. Have you ever used a single grain of salt to season anything? Have you ever seen a city with only one single light shining in it letting people know where the city is? Of course not! While one single light may be somewhat effective, it is never going to be as strong as a group of ten or twenty or thirty lights coming together to shine together to push back darkness. One single grain of salt is never going to be enough to season a steak, but when you use just the right amount, it is perfection.

In other words, none of us should be trying to do our work on our own. God has a work for us to do and we should be doing it, but never alone. Find those who are like-minded and join together. Get into a local church and join in fellowship with other believers.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Music: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson and John Wyeth (Public Domain.) Arranged and performed by Ginger Manning. Recorded and mastered by Gordon Manning.