Salt And Light to Share The Bread of Life

Salt seasons, purifies, preserves. But somebody ought to remind us that salt also irritates. Real living Christianity rubs this world the wrong way.
~Vance Havner

“Let Me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. … “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
~ Jesus, King of The Universe, in Matthew 5

Oh beloved, it is true.

We live in a world that is ravenously hungry. There is no-thing in this plane that will satisfy. We are ravenous beings, trying to fill our abysmal souls. And any of us who are honest will attest that anything we have tried has not been even near to close enough.

Somehow though, for those of us who have allowed ourselves to believe it, we find that there is A Way to be filled. It sounds a bit mystical, but it is not. We thought that there was no-thing that was going to fill us – and we were right. But, where we were wrong was in our shortsighted thinking. We thought that because nothing satisfied, that Satisfaction didn’t exist.

Praise G_d that we were wrong.

Jesus is not a thing. Nor is He an idea. Nor is He a medium or conduit for anything that we think we need. He is, rather, really and truly That Which for which we have been seeking. He is not just the Giver of bread. He Himself is the Life-giving Bread we seek.

And, any of us who have simply given ourselves over to The Truth, have found that in His Presence (note that in the Old Testament there was the bread of the presence in the temple), we find a strength beyond food. We find Life Himself, and His waters burst forth from the formerly empty depths of our souls.

They now overflow.

Can we see it?

This changes everything in our Lives. We not only find ourselves satisfied, our lives take on a new taste. Our lives, instead of trying to find something to shove down the dark holes of our existence, now exude a fragrance and light and seasoning to those around us.

And then, it goes deeper. We find that all along, while Jesus has indeed filled the abyss within us, the filling was not the main point. Actually, we have been filled that we might manifest the goodness of this same G_d to others who are just as empty as we were in the past.

The saltiness of our lives gives people a thirst for more of Jesus. The Light that shines through us attracts people to Jesus and lights their path to Him, through us. When those looking, find, they too get filled in the same way we have been. And this perpetuates throughout the world as His Kingdom and Body continue their march to a reign that will have no end.

So, are you wondering why you became a Christian? Surely, the first need is for you (and this fool of a writer) to move from death into Life. This, however, is but the beginning. Our fullness is such that it can make others full too – forever.

Tonight is your night. Be filled with the very Life of Jesus, that it will season and enlighten the world.

We’ve been so concerned about being cool, relevant, and fun that we have forgotten to be bread, light, and life to a hungry, dark, and dying world.
~Eric Ludy