BE DIFFERENT; Salt and Light
Can you guess which one thing I add to ALL the dinners I cook? SALT!
Jesus wants us to be different, as we have seen through the last 9 episodes, and if you haven’t listened to any of them, press pause now and go and listen to the first one, titled Be Different from 3rd October, or just scroll 9 episodes down, because in that episode we looked at how God wants us to be the odd ones out. He wants it to be obvious that we are different.
Being different. Different to what? Different to how we were before; how you were yesterday. A bit better different. He wants us to be different from non-Christians too.
We might be different from others who don’t believe in Jesus, but often they are loving and kind and humble too. That makes it really hard to shine like stars in the universe as Paul says.
What do you think?
How much have you remembered from this series about being different? Check your memory with this true or false quiz! Please press pause to discuss the answers together if you want to.
God wants us to be different so that we can direct people to him.
We have to give what we have got to others in order to get eternal life.
Humility involves treating yourself as least important.
Learning about God and Jesus is not important.
Christians can be thankful for Jesus saving us from our sins.
Being different is optional as a Christian.
2 incredible things that I take for granted every day are salt and light.
I love adding salt to my food (possibly too much!) and I love the sunlight warming my skin on a cold day.
At night when the sun goes down, I put the light on without thinking. All my lights are up on the ceiling or on a stand so that the light can shine a longer way than if it were on the floor or under my bed or in a cupboard.
In this final episode on being different we are going to be looking a little more at salt and light, as they are 2 things Jesus mentions when he is talking about his followers being different.
Here is some more about what Jesus has to say about being different:
Bible Passage: Matthew 5:13-16
"You are like salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on. You are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house.Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven."
SALT + LIGHT
Lets talk about salt first.
Does salt make food different? How? Salty apple example. Salt is a flavour enhancer. Jesus is a person enhancer! Improver. Make life better by being God’s representative.
Story Time!
A few days ago I cooked a really yummy chicken noodle dish, with delicious sauce, garlic, ginger, lemongrass. Brad didn’t like it. He added more sesame oil but it just wasn’t right. I hadn’t put enough salt in. As soon as Brad added the salt the whole flavour changed and it was perfect. Delicious.
We are to be like that salt. We are to be added to any situation and enhance it. Make it better. MORE tasty.
Whether you are at school, sport, a birthday party, or playing with friends after school or in the holidays, you can improve the situation or you can be neutral, or you can even take away and make it worse. You can be like salty salt, or like unsalty salt. If you don’t improve the situation, like if salt doesn’t make the food taste better, then you are useful for what? What is unsalty salt good for? Throwing out and walking on it.
Improve the situation for those around you.
Every time you meet up with someone else, whether it is family or friends or strangers, you can either shine your light, or let them stay in darkness. You do this with your words and actions. You shine your light by being different for Jesus - being loving, being empathetic, being generous, being grateful, being humble, being curious, being fruitful.
Question Time!
How can you be like salt, and improve the situation for those around you? What can you do or say?
How can you be like light on a stand, shining for everyone to see?
