Some more salt please
Scripture
Acts 14:19-23
19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.
20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.
21 They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch,22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
Jeremiah 23:36-39
36 But you must not mention ‘the oracle of the Lord’ again, because every man’s own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.37 This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the Lord’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’38 Although you claim, ‘This is the oracle of the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is the oracle of the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is the oracle of the Lord.’39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your fathers. 40 I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”
Mark 9:49-50
49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Observation:
A life lived for the Lord is pretty…exciting, dangerous, scary, demanding, rewarding..? The life of the Apostles after Jesus was risen and ascended was so drastically different from their life when Jesus was with them. They became changed men. Paul, who strongly persecuted the church became the persecuted (as Jesus said he would show him how much he must suffer for His name). The traveled around strengthening the disciples encouraging them to remain true to the faith. Contrast that with the wicked prophets Jeremiah is speaking out against. They have the title of someone speaking for the Lord, but they are actually in opposition to God. They aren’t strengthening the people of God but rather telling them what they want to hear. They claim everything they say and dream is from the Lord, so much so it becomes a regular part of the speech to ask what God is saying but no one is actually speaking for God. They are headed for disaster as they run in the opposite direction from God’s true Word. God judges them for their wickedness.
Application:
We know God will bring fire in our lives. Everyone will be salted with fire, but what will happen in response. Do I avoid the hard things of living for the Lord and turn to a bland, unsalted life? Am I willing to be like the Apostles and truly live for the Lord even in the midst of hardship and trouble? Or will I be like the prophets of old and build up a wall of false comfort around myself, believing whatever I want to believe is from the Lord? Do I tell myself the Lord is in this thing and that always speaking for the Lord, never truly listening to the Lord? What will I be more likely to face: persecution from wicked men or judgment from a righteous God?
Prayer:
Lord, I see how quickly your own people have turned from the truth time and time again. These false prophets You speak out against are telling themselves whatever they want to hear and claiming the words are from You. The picture of Paul and Barnabas is one of men radically committed to serving God no matter the cost. Where do I stand Lord? What am I committed to-comfort or calling? Forgive me for being like the false prophets so many times. I am dulling my senses with what makes me feel good. I want to be salty again God. I want to be salted with the fire of the Living God and see a radical change in my heart and my life. I have been pursuing my own comfort and feelings? How do you judge my heart Lord? How salty am I? How useful am I to You?
