NOT only does Jesus tell us that as believers we are both salt and light, but he also applies the meaning of these things. Jesus is not content to just state a fact of true Christian experience, but knowing our proneness to fall short of the best, he presses home the practical application of what it means for us to be salt and light, and what this means practically in our living. We must take the latter part of verse 13 with these two verses.

Firstly, Jesus tells us that Christians are like a city on a hill. A city on a hill can’t be missed. It is up high so nothing can hide it, or prevent people from seeing that it is there and what it is like. Jesus adds to this by saying that a lamp is for one thing only, and that is to give light. Jesus further adds the fact that if we lose our saltiness we are useless for the purpose for which a Christian is living in this world. Paul puts it so well in 1 Peter 2:9 when he says “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, in order that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”

We have been given this great and wonderful blessing and privilege through sovereign grace, which is to be saved out of the darkness of this world and the bondage to Satan, and born anew into the kingdom of God and light. We live in the glory of God and before the glory of God. We partake of that glory and the joy and completeness of light which is God. We now have one supreme purpose in life and that is to show forth the glory of God and of Jesus Christ who has saved us.

We are meant to be the light of Christ shining is this dark world so people may see the glory of God through us. This is a stupendous privilege and responsibility. Being a Christian can’t be a private matter. We have been given light and we must let that light shine so people may see it, and see in it the glory of God. We don’t live for our own glory, but have this supreme purpose to glorify God. Everything in us that makes people see us and not God is evil and must be crushed and repented of. The only way the light of God and of Christ may be known in this dark world is through the shining of the light of Christians.

From this there are two things which must be our perpetual concern. The first is that we must be vigilant so that we may not lose our saltiness and we may not dim the light of Christ within us. The second is that we do all that we possibly can always and every day to increase our saltiness and make the light of Christ shine more brightly from our lives.

There is a danger that we lose our saltiness, or that we hide the light we have been given. We can do this by conscious sin, but this we are aware of and so we seek to mortify sin within us. It is the more subtle dangers that we need to guard against particularly, so that we may not dim the light we are given. We must guard against cowardice which keeps us hiding the light that is within us. This hiding is seen in that we may work hard to avoid letting people at work or in society know that we are Christians. To do this we may be drawn into dubious activity in order not to stand out. Or we refuse to be open about our love for Christ, and when opportunities are given to speak, we keep silent. Then there is the constant battle against the flesh. We know the temptations of the flesh which are obvious, but there are the more subtle ones. For instance each day brings its many duties. These we have to perform. Do we do them in such a way as to show the light within us, or do we allow a lower standard of the world around us. Then there is our leisure hours. I suspect that all of us know the pull of the world and the prompting of the Spirit which are in conflict. The Spirit seeks to draw us to prayer, or to meeting with the Lord in the Bible, or the reading of some helpful book. On the other hand there is the television, or some game, or even idle conversation. So often the secular wins, and we quench the Spirit. Then there might be some activity which in itself is quite in order but somehow for us it dulls our spiritual vitality, and takes up too much of our time. The Spirit warns us of this. So often we dim the light within us and lose some of our saltiness by giving in to the flesh, and being disobedient to the Spirit. The devil is so good at making us feel that spiritual activity is uninteresting and dull and so we chose to do other things. We must resist these things.

Then there is the positive side to the light shining. Jesus says, “Let your light shine before people, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” We must be active in shining, but if we are to do this we must keep the light within us bright. We do not receive the light in such a way that it never needs attention ever again. If we are called of God and justified we can never lose the light we have been given, but we can let it grow weak and dim to the point of it being near being extinguished, and we can lose all the saltiness we have. Each day we need to top up the oil in our lamp and trim the wick, that we may shine brightly the light of Christ throughout the day.

There is no substitute for spending time with Jesus. There is no substitute for prayer. The best time for this is in the early morning, for we are at our best then. Should we not, when we wake, seek Jesus first? Those who rise early and seek the Lord are never disappointed. I have found after much struggle that this is the best and most wonderful time for me, when Jesus comes near me and fills me afresh with his light of life.

Then there is all the other means of grace. Sunday worship is given by the Lord so that we may revitalize the light that is within us. I view with deep concern the growing acceptance today that one time of worship on Sunday is enough. What do we do with the time we could spend in a second attendance in church on Sunday. Is it watching the TV? Or is it doing some odd job or engaging in a hobby? What good do these things do to our souls. And how the light given in the morning worship can be dissipated through secular activity through the rest of the day.