March 23

Matthew 5: 11-16 

What Price Glory 

We can’t will ourselves to be the kind of salt and light that Jesus talks about in the Gospel reading for today.  We have to desire to be this so badly, to need it so desperately that we make the most serious commitment of our lives as we give our life to Jesus Christ.  It is only then that He can make us flavorably salty and shining as a light as bright as the brightest star in the darkest of night!   

The power is not within us until we receive His power - the Holy Spirit!  Once operable in Him, there are no words to describe what the Lord can do through us.  We have no clue how to assess our own gifts, and how the Lord uses them.  You might hear someone say “It is when you said this or did such ‘n such that I realized...”  And you can’t remember when you said it or what you did that impacted that person’s life for Christ. 

The price of glory for Christ came by way of His obedience to His Father’s will.  If we seek “glory” in this life, then we must be willing to be obedient.  John likened it to being a branch attached to a life-giving vine.(John 15)  Our glory, that is, being the salt and light of the world, comes upon us unconsciously as we “suck” life from the vine.  That is what abiding in Christ is all about.