Salt: Preservative, or Compromise?

“You are the salt of the earth.” – Matthew 5:13

A couple of weeks ago I posted a piece about the relevance of Psalm 46 to the plight of Israel under attack from Hamas.

https://seekingdivineperspective.com/2023/10/13/though-the-earth-give-way/

Toward the end, I posed the question: If Scripture has prophesied that terrorism and wars will happen, should we still pray against them? Should we still oppose the prevailing evil?

Those of you who responded seemed to share my sentiment, that we can and should pray for the people caught in the midst of these situations. The End Times prophesies were made concerning large groups of people and unspecified times. Although we know there will be many saved and many lost, who knows if our prayers might be instrumental in bringing some individuals from one side to the other? Jesus Himself said we don’t know the day or hour when the end will come. We may not be able to stop the inevitable, but could our prayers postpone it, allowing more time for the lost to come to faith?

When Jesus told His followers, “You are the salt of the earth,” the general understanding is in the sense that salt was a vital preservative in the days before refrigeration. Salt did not make food last forever, but it did prolong its “shelf life.”

The God who created us, who called us to follow Him and carry out His will, doesn’t make mistakes. His timing is perfect, and just as Esther was positioned “for such a time as this,” to save her people, we entered this world exactly when our Creator wanted us to. We are likely not going to make the kind of visible impact that Esther did, but we have the secret, unfathomable power of prayer available to us. We have the opportunity to wield this power every day to help hold back the tide of destruction, giving our loved ones and others more time to repent and come into God’s Kingdom.

Another power/influence we have is the opportunity to vote. We should never take this right for granted! There are still many nations whose citizens don’t have the privilege of choosing their leaders.

I recently read a thread of comments regarding the upcoming elections in which one professing Christian had a distinctly cavalier attitude about the country and the world. He proudly proclaimed that Christ was all that mattered, that no candidate was good enough for him, and if America falls, America falls. – “Let it burn!” I cringed to think that someone claiming to follow Jesus would be so dismissive of his country and all the people in it, many of whom are lost souls desperately needing hope in these dark days.

It’s true that we have no perfect candidates, and for this reason many, in the name of Christian integrity, are refusing to vote, declaring proudly, “I won’t vote for the lesser of two evils!”

The mindset seems to be, I can’t save the country, so I’ll do nothing. America may be on the ropes; no doubt she will eventually lie on the ash-heap of history, along with every other great civilization that has ever enjoyed prominence. But that’s no reason to throw up our hands now, say “Oh well,” grab the marshmallows, and “let it burn.”

Maybe we can’t rescue America, but maybe we can buy her some time, time for lost souls to be saved.

We Americans have been given the task of choosing which admittedly flawed individuals are going to lead our nation. Yes, it’s frustrating, seeing the deficiencies of each candidate highlighted and magnified by his opponent, but I am pleading with you who don’t want to involve yourselves to prayerfully consider a couple of things:

1.) The Bible tells the story of Israel and other nations who either obeyed the Lord or, more often, defied Him. Whole nations bore the consequences of the actions of their leaders – leaders they had not had a say in choosing. We, on the other hand, have a voice. What does that tell you?

2.) You may be fearful that if you vote for “the lesser of two evils,” God might hold you accountable for that person’s flaws and blunders. But refusing to vote for the lesser of two evils is letting a vote for the greater of two evils to go unchallenged. Do you think you will escape accountability if the most ungodly are in charge and you have done nothing?

Election Day is fast approaching. If you love the Lord, if you love America,

PRAY.

VOTE.

PRAY.

(P. S. If you don’t vote, you forfeit your right to complain.)

Prayer: Lord, we live in a flawed, sinful world. Every day seems to bring another reason to give up hope. But You are our Hope. Your kingdom is not of this world, and we are not of this world. But You have kept us here to make the gospel known among the nations, for it is not Your will that any should perish. Guide us in our mission. Give us courage and perseverance to carry it out, harvesting every soul within reach, until the very end, in Jesus’ name. Amen.