Custom Search

Threads from Henry's Web:
November 2, 2004

Flavor-full God

---

by Jody Neufeld

"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it." -- Matthew 11:12

I recently came upon this passage during my study time. I have been told that this particular Scripture passage has been the subject of books and hours of debate among theologians for decades. I am not a theologian (praise God!) so I look at a passage like this and ask God what He would say to ME about it and I will leave the debate to others.

"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" -- Matthew 5:13

When I initially think of myself as being �salty�, I guess I inaccurately think of �spicy�. Salt isn�t spicy. It is flavorful. When used in balanced amounts it will make a dish full of flavor, even a sweet dish. So Jesus tells me in Matthew 5 to be full of HIS flavor. That when I speak to or serve others I leave them with a memorable �flavor� that they associate with God and it is good!

Jesus also tells me not to become �insipid� (there�s a word I haven�t used much!) or bland. Have you ever eaten instant mashed potatoes from a hospital cafeteria? Ugh! That is insipid! Insipid also means �wishy-washy� or not sure which side of the fence I want to be counted. I SURELY do not want to be described like that!

In the Scripture that God brought me in Matthew 11, I think of the many stories I have read about the Crusades. Popes and other clergy, kings and otherwise God-seeking men crossed the line from evangelism to murder, all in the name of Jesus. They were deceived into thinking that some ill-conceived end would justify ANY means to achieve it.

We do the same thing all too often in our modern, �enlightened� church. We try to FORCEFULLY shove our personal beliefs of Jesus on someone who is �young� in the faith or may be weak in an area, trying to find the path that Jesus has for them. We �yank� them by the hair too quickly in an attempt to FORCE them to see the error of their ways so they can become � more like ME!

On the other side of the coin in that Matthew 11 verse, there IS evil in this world. Satan LIKES violence and will use it in order to intimidate and place fear inside of us so we will forget Who is WITH us and has already WON the war! Battles may come our way but we have a Commander-in-Chief that has NO equal and is NEVER caught unawares! Our best weapon is keeping our eyes on Jesus, our hand to the plow, and keep doing what He tells us to do (Luke 9:62).

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." -- Colossians 4:5-6

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." -- Matthew 5:14-16

Yes, I am a light, created by God to shine before men who are walking in the darkness of this world, satan�s world. My light and saltiness is there to show them the flavor-full God that I serve and praise Him for loving them enough to save them.