In every life situation we should focus, not primarily on what we should DO, but on who God has called us to BE. Our actions must not flow from an achievement orientation but from an identity rooted in God. In the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ Jesus is redefining how God’s Kingdom plan works. Rather than focusing on what his people must DO, Jesus focuses on what they must BE. This began in the Beatitudes and now continues with two pictures: he describes us as both salt and light. Jesus’ charge against first century Judaism was that it had lost its flavour. It had the form of godliness but not the flavour. We are to be the flavour of God in the world, that is, the flavour of a loving father who wants to reach out in grace to people. You attain the flavour of God when you are filled with God’s Spirit and filled with his love. In this way, we too become ‘the light of the world’. When we are filled with light we become a light to others. Has your life lost the flavour of God? Has the light of God dimmed in you? If so, then don’t try to compensate for this by doing more. It is not DOING that God wants us to focus on but BEING. Reconnect with God, yield yourself to him, be filled with his love and peace, rest in him, and then you will BE both salt and light in the world. Find where there is darkness and shine there. Find where you can add the flavour of God and be there. It is as simple as that.
Reflect on who needs some light and flavour in their lives.
Read Matthew 5:13-16
