Day 62: Numbers 30-31; Mark 9:30-50
"Your lives, like salt, are to season and preserve. So don’t lose your flavor, and preserve the peace in your union with one another.” (Mark 9:50b, TPT)
Confession time: my tendency in life is to be a peace keeper. Peace keepers try to smooth over differences. Sometimes this works, but if you do not get at the core of what causes the conflict, you can spend a lifetime smoothing over differences. Dealing with the core issue, lets you move past the conflict. This is often referred to as peace making. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God" (Matthew5:9). Guess I have some lessons to learn on my journey.
So what does this have to do with Mark 9:50? Thanks for asking! In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus calls us salt and light in reference to being a prophetic and evangelistic voice in our world. Here, in Mark, he is talking about being a seasoning, preserving, cleansing presence within the community of faith. When we are truly family in the faith, then we are all these things, and the end result is shalom. Of course, this depends on Jesus being the Lord of our lives and the Holy Spirit having free reign in our faith-family. I guess the challenge here for me is to do the hard thing and get past peacekeeping to peacemaking. I know how. Above all, put on love (agape), for love always wants the best in others and for others, and love reflects our Savior and Lord. Truly, we love because He first loved us. Come, Church, let us be the seasoning that preserves shalom.
Confession time: my tendency in life is to be a peace keeper. Peace keepers try to smooth over differences. Sometimes this works, but if you do not get at the core of what causes the conflict, you can spend a lifetime smoothing over differences. Dealing with the core issue, lets you move past the conflict. This is often referred to as peace making. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God" (Matthew5:9). Guess I have some lessons to learn on my journey.
So what does this have to do with Mark 9:50? Thanks for asking! In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus calls us salt and light in reference to being a prophetic and evangelistic voice in our world. Here, in Mark, he is talking about being a seasoning, preserving, cleansing presence within the community of faith. When we are truly family in the faith, then we are all these things, and the end result is shalom. Of course, this depends on Jesus being the Lord of our lives and the Holy Spirit having free reign in our faith-family. I guess the challenge here for me is to do the hard thing and get past peacekeeping to peacemaking. I know how. Above all, put on love (agape), for love always wants the best in others and for others, and love reflects our Savior and Lord. Truly, we love because He first loved us. Come, Church, let us be the seasoning that preserves shalom.
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