Am I continuing to live godly so that others will be influenced to live for God and to praise Him?

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.  14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

INSIGHT:   Before my 1st spouse and I got married in September of 1995, we dated and lived together in sin for about 18 months.  There had been that tragic abortion of our twins, and our lives were increasingly chaotic as we lived outside of God’s will and truth.  We were living in Merritt Island, FL and one of my best friends and his wife, from Cocoa Beach high school, had been attending Calvary Chapel of Merritt Island and told us about it.  Soon, she was motivated for us to start going to church, which is what she had grown up doing.  I was reluctant to go, no doubt because of our sinful life, but I eventually agreed.  What irony that the person who would become my greatest spiritual enemy, was the person God initially used to get me exposed again to His Word and Spirit. 

The pastor’s name was Malcomb Wild.  He was from England and between his great accent, his Rod Stewart haircut, and his inspiring sermons, I found myself intrigued and willing to keep attending. I remember being impressed with his sermons, perhaps compared to the sermons I had heard in the little Souther Baptist church, in Grant, AL, where my mom and I had both been baptized, when I was in the 11th grade.  But while we were attending Calvary, I noticed this husband and wife I saw sitting on the front row, right in my line of sight, each Sunday morning.  I didn’t know what it was at the time, but there was just something special about them.  To me, it looked as if God was very real to them, and that they had an actual loving relationship with Him.  I never met them, but even from afar they stood out to me as to what I now know to be true salt and light, just as Jesus taught.  Between Malcomb’s truth filled preaching and teaching, and this godly couple, God was setting me up.  One Sunday morning, it seems to me that the Holy Spirit, whispered to my heart, “Come closer. There is so much more.”  From that time on, I made God’s word and church a consistent part of my life, but it would be another fifteen years, until I came to that full surrender of everything to my Master and Lord, on October 30, 2009.  Nevertheless, those seven words are incredible to reflect on, in the light of what God has done in this life and ministry.  He showed me the salt and light in that couple in Merritt Island and eventually gave some to me.

One time, while working from a coffee shop in Huntsville, AL, I ran into the wife of a guy I had been meeting with weekly.  We started talking about God and I encouraged her in a few things from the Word.  A bit later, she had to leave.  Sitting four seats down was another lady trying to get my attention.  She said, “I’m sorry to bother you, but I couldn’t help overhearing you talk about God.  That is now the second time I have heard you talking about God to someone, and you really speak from your heart.  Are you a pastor or counselor?”

That lady was now sensing the “salt” and “light” in me, which I had first seen in that couple at Calvary Chapel.  We are all to be salt and light.  Salt adds flavor to food and makes it stand out from unsalted food.  When we are full of God’s word and the Holy Spirit, we are salt and light.  People can tell that there is something different about us; we have flavor.  Many will hate us for this, but a few others may be drawn closer to God, like I was by that couple. 

When we share God’s word, our faith, our testimony, the gospel, and we act consistently with what we believe, it acts as a powerful light to other people.  Some around us will be attracted to the light.  When they see our good deeds, they will indeed recognize that we are disciples of Jesus, and they will give thought to Him and even thank Him.  Remember, any deeds that we do must be motivated by a desire to be seen and praised by God, not by man.  God sees our true motives.  See Mat 6:1