Your Light Must Shine Before Others

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:13-16).

As I sit down to write, I am confident that someone reading this needs to be reminded of these verses. A few days before sitting down to write this, I was asking the Lord if there was a topic or verse He wanted me to share…the words salt and light resounded strongly in my mind and heart. This doesn’t always happen, but I am very confident that these were the words the Lord shared with me that day in prayer. I realized He was asking me to reflect on the meaning of being salt and light in my own life.

My mind was wandering as Marcos, my husband, was reading the Gospel of Tuesday, June 10th, to our children, but then the words from Matthew, “You are the light of the world….” hit me hard, and I had to ask him, “Is that really the Gospel for today?!” He smiled, and I did too knowing the Lord was speaking to me again.

After finishing the Gospel, I opened our “Into the Deep” Catechesis book that we do with the children, and the topic for that day was The Prophets. Below was the verse from Isaiah 9:1, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light,” and at the end of the lesson there was a beautiful poem made into a song that I would like to share at the end of this newsletter, by Matilda Mentham-Edwards that is called, “God Make My Life a Little Light.” All this, and to top it off, Miriam, my daughter, chose the song “This Little Light of Mine” to sing together as a family.

That is why I’m confident this is a word from Scripture that the Lord would like our family, and each person reading this to reflect on in their life and how they can lean into that in a deeper way from today on forward!

So what does it mean to me as a missionary mom to be salt and light? As I think about the presence of missionaries here in this little desert town for now over 30 years, it is incredible the light of Christ that has been shared with the people. Many people, now quite elderly, have passed by to tell Marcos and I stories of missionaries from FMC who had visited them years ago in their rancho, who had prayed with them, and who introduced them into a relationship with Christ. This is an example of bringing salt and light into the world.

For me, as a missionary mom, to be the light of Christ in our mission post, most days don’t mean driving 30 minutes to go door to door in a rancho, or even visit a home-bound person and preach the word of God. Yes, sometimes I get to do that with my children and husband, and it’s always a gift when I am able to! However, for me, this passage made me reflect on some of the small things in my day-to-day that bring the light of Christ into the world. The simple moments that I have to choose to be light to others, and through God’s grace, He makes Himself known to the people around me in the smallest of ways.

To be salt and light means to wake up in the morning and choose joy in responding to my eager children’s needs, especially when I’m tired.

To be salt and light means to answer our door with a smile and mercy at 8 am (even if I’m still in my pajamas and in the middle of making breakfast) and welcome in the person who came with expectant faith, seeking to be prayed over for healing from sickness.

To be salt and light might mean inviting the youth group into our home for a meal, giving a formation class in our living room, or having a coffee or ice cream with a young woman who needs to talk.

To be salt and light in our family may mean choosing to invite our children to pray and ask for healing for a scrape or cut, or when they are having a bad day, even though I might just want to put a quick band-aid on it or join in on their complaining or grumpiness.

To be salt and light might mean taking our family out to the park and trying to be a witness of joy and family life.

To be salt and light might be simply praying before I take a walk around town, and being open to the Lord leading me to someone to share a prayer or the Good News.

To be able to bear light and bring flavor, I have to spend time with the Father in prayer every single day, or I have learned that I quickly lose my flavor!

There have been many times when I halfheartedly choose to be salt or light and surrender it to the Lord, and something marvelous comes out of it! I have seen that the Lord simply needs my tiny “YES,” the slightest consent to Him, and He can shine BRIGHTLY through me so that others may be drawn into a relationship with Him.

So, those are a few thoughts I have about salt and light.

What does it mean to you to be salt and light? To not lose your flavor? Where do you need to give your tiny YES to Him? Who in your life lives in darkness and desperately needs the hope and light that comes from hearing the truth of our faith and about the love of our Heavenly Father?