A&D+connection

One new thing I learned was how exceptionally deep the metaphor of salt and light were meant to be, I hadn't thought about the concept of decay when salt was involved. We are truly meant to be something that stops our world from deteriorating. By becoming like Christ we stop our world from letting His image disintegrate completely, and shine a little more light onto how our world was meant to be when it was uncorrupted. This has deepened our understanding of how we were meant to live in this world, because if we are meant to stop decay it means that we much be careful not to let any of ourselves decay. Living up to moral standards and avoiding sin takes a new priority, because if salt "loses it's saltiness" or becomes rotten, it is worthless. If we give up, or cave in and refuse to see the corruption in ourselves, we simply allow it to spread, Or cause it to become worse because we are blind to it. []

It's going to sound like a cop out, but there really wasn't anything I disagreed with in these readings, most of it was where I have spent the last 21 years arriving. Christ is central in these books, and while sometimes, there are small things I would word differently, I felt really in tune with both of these books.

One of the most relevant biblical perspectives I think I have about these books, is that the things we talk about doing are great. Loving Him, walking with Him, keeping Him central are all really great important things, but living like that isn't possible without loving Him first. One of the books that has helped me understand this the most is Francis Chan's Crazy Love, he points out that for us to live like that, we have to be loving God and putting Him first at all times. []



He explains "Personal experiance has taught me that actions driven by fear and guilt are not the antidote to selfish, comfortable lukewarm living,"(Chan,101) The answer instead is love. When we love and desire our God, that is what shows, when we not only go out of our way to live like Him, but constantly desire more, it is then that our light truly shines. One of the verses I think strongly supports this idea of love being the center, not fear or guilt, which then allows us to live freely, free of corruption and decay, free to shine light in the darkest places is this. "You, my brothers, were called to be free.But do not use your freedom to indulge in the sinful nature;rather serve one another in love, the entire law is summed up in a single command, love your neighbor as yourself." Galations 5:13-14 Something that is impossible to do without loving Him first.