Transformation Through Purpose
Jesus gives purposes and reasons for which we were created or exist, a purpose to “to get up and go”, a covenant of resolve and determination. “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people [when the walkways are wet and slippery]. Matthew 5: 13 (Amp).
Salt is an element that is almost impossible to destroy. Jesus’ admonition from the sermon on the mount was to be salt that would be a preservative of indestructible endurance and resistance. Our families, neighbors, neighborhoods, communities, schools, and our work locations are all specific places or localities in which we purpose to resist decay and destruction.
“You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5: 14-16 (Amp)
We must purpose and covenant to be that moral excellence and that exhibition of good deeds. The light shines upon the many hilltops of the community. And upon those many hilltops in which we live, work, play, heal, and learn, John tells us by what method and by what strategy the light shines “…what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the Word of Life…” I John 1: 1 (Amp)
The light that is on the hilltops of the city must be within the grasp of the neighborhood. The light of moral excellence and good deeds develops friendships that reach from backyard to backyard. Family times move from barbeque to barbeque. Each home repair project becomes an opportunity for generosity and service.
We who purpose and covenant to be the light of the world and we who purpose and covenant to be the salt of the earth preserves a path for the neighborhood and a way of escape from decay by engaging ourselves in the neighborhood community.
