I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 5-6

I have always loved this passage, there is so much in it for us to learn from.  For me what Jesus has to say about salt losing its flavor strikes me as the central take away from this passage today.  I recently saw someone say that Christians being pro-life makes people not want to get to know Christ.  That is the sort of thinking that Jesus was talking about when He said that if we lose our flavor we become good for nothing.  I almost did not use that example because I am not a champion of making abortion illegal…I am not a champion of making anything illegal.  As a Christian, I want to convince people not to do things which will cause them, or others, harm.  I want them to not do those things because they love God, not because those things are illegal.  Nevertheless, we should not be afraid to express unpopular opinions that reflect Jesus’ teachings.

However, just a few verses further on Jesus warns us against allowing ourselves to be controlled by anger, a temptation which can be hard to resist when talking about some of today’s issues.  I want to go on to another aspect of Jesus’ teaching about being salt.  Well, actually, it is the other metaphor He uses for the same lesson, being light.  He tells us to let our good deeds shine out for all to see, but, again just a few verses down, He tells us to not do our good deeds for others to see them.  He says that we should give to the needy in private, that we should pray and fast in ways that others do not see.  As part of His teaching about giving to the needy, Jesus tells us not to worry about our physical needs.  Let’s pay careful attention here.  He tells us to not worry about OUR physical needs while telling us to care for the physical needs of others.  Seek first God’s Kingdom and His will and everything we need will be provided.