Unshackled Moments ~ January 10 ~ Salt

Freely you have received. Freely give. 

- Matthew 10:8 

You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world...Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. 

- Matthew 5:13, 14,16

Have you ever experienced being around one of those people who just make life better for everyone by their presence? They just seem to bring a joy, or a peace, or a calm, or a confidence or a combination of the previous that is contagious. I'm not talking about annoying fake cheerfulness that can never seem to acknowledge when things are hard. I'm not talking about someone who sticks their head in the sand and pretends everything is all right when it's not. I'm not talking about someone who appears to have peace because they don't care what happens.

How about someone who can grieve with you, crying tears with you and for your pain, acknowledge the realness and depths of the valley of the shadow you're walking through and yet have a very real confidence that you will come out of it and climb again the mountain of joy that somehow makes you believe that one day, maybe, things really will be good.  Someone who smiles easy and often with a smile that reaches their eyes and feels is especially for you no matter how many people also get the smiles directed at them. Each smile feels like a special message of love and acceptance or a billboard proclaiming the awesomeness and glory of God in a life that is being well lived. Someone who has peace not because what happens doesn't matter, but because everything good and bad, big and small, matters more than we realize, but they can glimpse beyond the curtain and see enough of the eternal God working it all for good and for life that they can go through the scariest storm at peace and with a confidence that makes you OK that you're beside them as the wind blows.

Jesus effected people like that. My Ma Woody was like that most of the time that I knew her, and my father is enough like that that I could describe him as such and most people would nod their head in agreement. I am not like that very often or very consistently. But I have some of those attributes more often and at the right times far more often now than I did when I first began my journey to freedom. I hope to be one of those people more and more as I let go of more and more of my selfish will, surrender more and more to God and become closer and more like Jesus. You can and will become someone that people want to be around more than secretly wishing that they could avoid.

Salt enhances flavor, and if we have successfully given up running our own lives, even if just for the majority of the time, acknowledged God as the only rightful ruler of life who has the power to keep and to save, surrendered to Him, examined ourselves to see what needs to be taken away to allow the beautiful image in the stone of our heart to come to life through the touch of the Master Sculptor, shone a light on the secret places and humbled ourselves to allow God to make the changes that need to be made, done what we can to clean up the mess we have made while remembering that we can not earn God's forgiveness and then continued to do these things on a regular, daily basis, seeking to improve and deepen our relationship with God and to take what we have learned of Him and His way of life and apply to all areas o life and the situations that we encounter, then we will, it is impossible not to, become salt, someone adding love's touch to those around them and enhancing the flavor of life for others.

And then we have an assignment, to carry this message, the one about a better way of life given freely to us by the One who spoke the world into existence, the life of freedom worth living, to those still hurting and in bondage. We become like Jesus, sent to heal the broken hearted and set the captives free,. And that doesn't mean you have to become a preacher, or a writer or have to go door to door trying to sell anything. As we become closer to Jesus we become brighter. Jesus is the Son and the light of creation. We are the moon, reflecting His light and glory. It may look like we are shining lights, but our light is only possible because of His light and is only a reflection. And the more of the surface of our life that we turn to Him, the more full our light appears to those who see us. Then they ask, then they desire to spend time in our light, then the come to us for help, and the doors get opened to tell them, show them and point the way to the One who has the power to save them.

None of us are going to be perfect. But we can be more like Jesus, more flavor enhancement, the closer we get to Him and the more that we surrender. Today I want to be someone adding love's touch to those I encounter. I want to be salt. How about you?

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