Preservation

Be the salt and light. Over the years, I’ve heard a lot about being the salt and the light. The light, I guess is self-explanatory. We need to be the light in the darkness. Light is necessary to see. Light is essential as only one will prevail; light and darkness cannot coexist. In that way, I get it. We are to be the light as children of God, but salt?

What is the point of salt? If it is just about taste, there is not much to the concept and analogy. However, it was not until recently that I realized that in the early days (before refrigerators were a thing) that salt was used as a preservation tool. Meats were stored in salt to keep it last longer and make it more flavorful. Then it hit me, salt is used for preservation! We are the salt of the earth. So in order to be the salt, we need to be preservators of this world.

Salt is the most natural preservative. As we know, salt sucks out water, which eliminates bacterial growth, and in that way, food is not wasted as fast as without the salt. That being said, how are we the salt? As mentioned in the Dominion, Blessing and Honor, and other previous blogs, God entrusted this world into the hands of Adam and Eve, giving them the authority to rule this land and even instructed them to be fruitful and multiply. This was God’s Plan A – Having Heaven on Earth. So when we pray “…on Earth as it is in Heaven…” we are proclaiming the will of God to happen here AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

Looking around me, I don’t see a lot of that happening all the time. It can be overwhelming and a little scary at times. The wrath of God is real! We have bought into the grace theology so much that we do not realize that the Old Testament God is the same as the New Testament God. Even though we have taken His grace for granted, we need to recognize that God has been the same. Hebrews 13:8, states that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

We have allowed the understandings of the world crowd our thoughts to a point where the church has lost its own identity. I am sorry to say this, but this year has been a year of lots of confusion in the world with the pandemic and all sorts of other craziness. Yet the church has somehow stayed silent or become totally tolerant. Matthew 5:13 states that “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” That’s a bold statement – thankful for second chances and extremely grateful for repentant hearts being forgiven.

If the church does not voice their values based on the Word of God, how will the people know? Who will preserve the world? The lost will remain lost, the saved may turn to other worldly views, and others may just stay confused altogether. If the church maintained the Word of God and did not skew the reality of the Gospel, we would be experiencing revival. We would see people being the salt of the Earth, making Jesus famous, and fulfilling the Great Commission. The Body of Christ would rise up united in the midst of uncertainty, full of faith, and full of hope.

Basic moral values are being questioned and the church is somehow staying silent. I refuse to allow the philosophies of other people blind my reality. Do not buy into the public’s perception of reality. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your decisions! Since when is it okay to accept anything as truth – take EVERY thought into captivity and let it filter through your own brain. Use your logic, critical thinking skills, and faith as needed! What you hold as valuable now, if you actively practice it now, participate in it now, you pass it on to the next so that they too will experience the effects of it. What you do not preserve now does not get passed down to the next generation!

Will you be a preservator? To be the salt, you need to know that you matter! People are looking up to you. God needs His representatives valuing what He values and maintaining His Kingdom Standards! What you hold as valuable shows in your actions, your words, and your character. If Lot’s righteousness preserved his land and family for as long as it did, imagine what you can do for your territory? I believe God will do mighty things for His children who take His Kingdom seriously. We need to be the preservators of this land, of this generation, and most importantly of the Standard of Holiness for the next generation.