OUR FATHER WHO IS GLORIFIED BY THE GOOD WORKS OF HIS CHILDREN

Mathew chapter 4 verses 13 - 16 says this;

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

This passage elucidates the effect that believers are expected to have in the world by comparing us to salt and to light.

Salt, with its distinct flavour, is used as a metaphor for the distinction of righteousness that believers should be exhibiting in their lives before non-believers.

If that distinction is lost, believers will become irrelevant in the world and they will be trampled underfoot by men. 

The problem highlighted by the Lord Jesus is that if believers lose their distinct flavor of righteouness, there is no other substance that can be introduced to re-season them with the flavor of righteousness. The lives of believers need to be perpetually seen as a desirable standard to which unbelievers can compare their own lives and seek the remedy of salvation.

With righteousness enmeshed in their lives, Jesus charges believers to be the light of the world and to let the righteouness of God be seen in their lives the way that a light placed on a lampstand illuminates a house.

The good works like hospitality, generosity, gentleness, forgiveness, mercy and faithfulness are ways that God is glorified because people observe how believers take the responsibility to alleviate the difficulties in other people's lives while restoring and sustaining the dignity and intrinsic worth of those around them.

Amen.

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