Salt and Light
An amazing thing happened as I walked to my house after being dropped off at the mailbox. I saw my neighbor who has the same house number as me, but lives on the street behind me. Sometimes our mail gets in the wrong box and I get his mail and he gets mine. The day before, I had taken two pieces of mail to him.....noticing that both pieces were from Christian ministries.
And there he was tonight, riding his bike and as he rounded the corner by my house, he stopped and waited. I wasn't really close enough to hear him when he began to speak to me, but what I heard apprehended me. "You are the salt and light in the neighborhood." Tears filled my eyes.
I think of all the times I read the Grace statements out into the atmosphere of my neighborhood before they were even Grace Cards. I saw no visible change. Life seemed to continue on as usual. One day I walked the whole boundary as I felt an urgency to mark our neighborhood with the blood of Jesus. And then a house caught on fire on a windy day and the fire only spread to the next house stopping before reaching my neighbor with the same house number as mine.
We all do those things, but we do not see the fruit that is growing. Things seem to continue on as is usual and sometimes, we even feel resistance in the air.
When Dutch Sheets relaunched the Appeal to Heaven, I ordered a flag, purchased a flag holder and on a cold day, stood on a ladder to hang the new flag. I wondered if the HOA would send a letter telling me to take it down. Yet, here I am, coming home from picking up the mail and it is like the Heavens rolled back and there is a messenger on a bike ride and he stops and tells me, “You are the salt and light of the neighborhood”. And you wonder if he is an angel that just looks like your neighbor and you come away feeling kissed by God.
I encourage you to stay faithful in your neighborhoods. You ARE the salt and light. Just your presence establishes a beachhead for the Kingdom. Always, God has stacked things in our favor and He has positioned us both spiritually and geographically to hold the gate open for the King of Glory to come in.
Matthew 5:13-14 speaks of our being the salt and light of the world. We are the flavor, the taste that causes others to see the Goodness of God. We are a light that is compared to a city that is set on a hill that cannot be hidden. Light stands out in the darkness.
