Ye are the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13.
Christ's church is to be a blessing, and its members are to be blessed as they bless others. The object of God in choosing a people before all the world was not only that He might adopt them as His sons and daughters, but that through them He might confer on the world the benefits of divine illumination. When the Lord chose Abraham it was not simply to be the special friend of God, but to be a medium of the precious and peculiar privileges the Lord desired to bestow upon the nations. He was to be a light amid the moral darkness of his surroundings.
Whenever God blesses His children with light and truth, it is not only that they may have the gift of eternal life, but that those around them may also be spiritually enlightened.... “Ye are the salt of the earth.” And when God makes His children salt, it is not only for their own preservation, but that they may be agents in preserving others.
The religion of Christ is not a selfish religion. It is not to be kept under lock and key, but it is to be an influence of power going forth from every genuine Christian to enlighten those that sit in darkness. Every soul connected with a true Christian will be made better thereby. We are to be God's light bearers, reflecting the steady beams of heaven upon others.
It is through the merits of Christ that all our spiritual and temporal blessings are given us to enjoy. The salvation of Christ was placed within our reach that we might lay hold upon it by faith, that we might weave the love of Christ into our characters, and practice it in our lives, that we might be a blessing to all our race. But not one of us can shed light upon others unless we ourselves have gathered rays of divine illumination from the Word of God. We must have the Christlike mold of character or we cannot be true representatives of our Lord.
We can do nothing without the help of God. The Spirit of God must work with our efforts, and if God's blessing attends us, we shall be channels of light. The Lord is willing to give us all an experience, which, if improved, will bring us from the lowlands of earth into close, heavenly relationship with God, and every fiber of selfishness will be uprooted from our natures.
Do you shine as living stones in God's building? ... We have not the genuine religion, unless it exerts a controlling influence upon us in every business transaction. We should have practical godliness to weave into our lifework. We should have the transforming grace of Christ upon our hearts. We need a great deal less of self, and more of Jesus....
We need plenteous grace to keep us humble, to make us prayerful, pitiful, tenderhearted, and courteous, that we may deal with others as the Lord designs we should.—The Signs of the Times, February 3, 1890.
From Reflecting Christ - Page 205
Reflecting Christ