Devotional Guide, Today’s Reading – Sunday, September 26, 2021

Theme: PRECEPTS FROM THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

Text: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” – Matthew 5:13.

Comment: In the beatitudes, our Lord Jesus Christ gave what would pass for a manual on Christian conduct to all believers and gave expression to the prophecy that he came to “magnify the law, and make it honourable”. (See Isaiah 42:21; Galatians 3:24, 25; Deuteronomy 18:15) Just as salt preserves, gives flavour to food, so true Christians preserve godliness and high moral standards in the world, thereby making the relations among men to be a pleasurable one. (Verse 13) Even the way we talk to one another should  be seasoned with salt, that is, should be courteous and edifying. (Colossians 4:6) But if Christians fail to live up to the moral demands of their faith, then they are only fit for trodden under foot and destroyed. – 2 Peter 2:20-22; Hebrews 6:4-6.

Christ taught us that those who want to enter the Kingdom of God should do things out of a pure heart, not like the hypocrites who pretended to be godly but were full of greed, pride, wickedness. 

A disciple of Christ should be a peace-maker, one who works to unite people not one who fans the embers of disunity and strife, turning people against one another. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16