You Are the Salt (and other devotionals)

You Are the Salt

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

Edmund Burke wrote, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” When it comes to the political scene and government, there are some who have dropped out all together. They have the idea that if you get involved in government, somehow that is the “social gospel.” So they’ve just hunkered down, trying to “hold on till Jesus gets here.” They see the political scene as being dirty and worldly. And some have been intimidated by the great debate between church and state.

We can’t drop out. It’s impossible to think that God would have ordained government and told His people to stay out. Who else does that leave to run things?

Others with misguided zeal have tried to bring in the kingdom of God by political machinations. That cannot be done either. So where do we get the answers? We’re not going to get the answers today from the politician who may have his personal ax to grind or from the ungodly and the humanists who don’t believe the Word of God, or from finger-bumping philosophers who don’t know the Word of God. The only place we’re going to get the answers, I believe, is from the Word of God.

ACTION POINT:

We need to confess and turn from our wicked ways. We need to speak up and stand up for what is right. Let your speech be seasoned with salt. But stand up, speak up and come out from under the rock. Stand on the rock and speak up for the Lord Jesus Christ.

~Adrian Rogers~

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Psalm 33:21

Our heart shall rejoice in Him.

Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages. The waves may roll over them, but their souls soon rise to the surface and see the light of God's countenance; they have a buoyancy about them which keeps their head always above the water, and helps them to sing amid the tempest, "God is with me still." To whom shall the glory be given? Oh! to Jesus-it is all by Jesus. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation with it to the believer, but the presence of the Son of God in the fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy. He is sick and suffering, but Jesus visits him and makes his bed for him. He is dying, and the cold chilly waters of Jordan are gathering about him up to the neck, but Jesus puts His arms around him, and cries, "Fear not, beloved; to die is to be blessed; the waters of death have their fountain-head in heaven; they are not bitter, they are sweet as nectar, for they flow from the throne of God." As the departing saint wades through the stream, and the billows gather around him, and heart and flesh fail him, the same voice sounds in his ears, "Fear not; I am with thee; be not dismayed; I am thy God." As he nears the borders of the infinite unknown, and is almost affrighted to enter the realm of shades, Jesus says, "Fear not, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Thus strengthened and consoled, the believer is not afraid to die; nay, he is even willing to depart, for since he has seen Jesus as the morning star, he longs to gaze upon Him as the sun in his strength. Truly, the presence of Jesus is all the heaven we desire. He is at once

"The glory of our brightest days;

The comfort of our nights."

~Charles Spurgeon~

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A Guide All the Way

"He will be my guide even unto death"   (Psalm 48:14).

We need a guide. Sometimes we would give all that we have to be told exactly what to do and where to turn. We are willing to do right, but we do not know which one of two roads we are to follow. Oh, for a guide!

The LORD our God condescends to serve us as guide. He knows the way and will pilot us along it till we reach our journey's end in peace. Surely we do not desire more infallible direction. Let us place ourselves absolutely under His guidance, and we shall never miss our way. Let us make Him our God, and we shall find Him our guide. If we follow His law we shall not miss the right road of life, provided we first learn to lean upon Him in every step that we take.

Our comfort is that as He is our God forever and ever, He will never cease to be with us as our guide. "Even unto death" will He lead us, and then we shall dwell with Him eternally and go no more out forever. This promise of divine guidance involves lifelong security:salvation at once, guidance unto our last hour, and then endless blessedness. Should not each one seek this in youth, rejoice in it in middle life, and repose in it in old age? This day let us look up for guidance before we trust ourselves out-of-doors.

~Charles Spurgeon~