Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Called to be the Light

St. Matthew 5:13-16

V. 16: "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

This passage follows the Beatitudes, where the common phrase Christ emphasizes is “blessed are the…”.  It is understood that blessed are those who love God and purpose to carry out that love to the world in which they are placed.  This is a calling for us to understand that we are blessed to bless.  That is where we can see the purpose of our life is to be the salt and light.
 
We are the salt of the world.  The two main function salt reminds us is it is a seasoning agent as well as a preservative.  When we see the seasoning aspect of salt, Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him”.  In a world that has a shortcoming or imperfection of taste in food, we are easy to judge and say, ‘Something is off about this dish’.  It is not just right, and that is okay, it reminds us of a life lesson that this world is imperfect, but the more we can look unto God and turn to Him, we can trust that He is good and dependable.  Whatever we try to search in this world, we will never be satisfied, It is only if we taste and see that only the Lord is good that we can learn to be the agents of good seasoning and share the goodness of God with this broken world.  We should never lose our saltiness but be consistent in faith and consistently bless the world around us.  As a preservative, salt is effective only when it comes in contact with meat and fish.  We must constantly be in contact with God and the world we are placed to minister effectively and to lean on God-centered values to preserve this world in the right direction.
 
We are the light of the world.  There are three distinct functions of light and it is to reveal, guide, and shine.  We are called to reveal and call out what is hidden in the darkness and bring to light the injustice of this world.  We are called to teach what is right from wrong.  Along with that we are called to be light to guide others around us in the right direction.  We are also just as much called to humbly shine who God is to us to those who see us.  Our lifestyle choices should be disciplined to godly living to shine in this world filled with darkness.

 

Prayer
Father, guide my life to constantly dwell and be enlightened in You and Your word which is a lamp to my feet, and help me to share Your flavor of love in this broken world, Amen.

Thought for the Day

“I wish not merely to be called Christian, but also to be Christian.”—Saint Ignatius

Rev. Jess M. George
N.E. Region Youth Chaplain

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