Do you ever wonder why you’re doing what you do every day?
Do you ever wonder if your life makes a difference for good on this planet Earth?
Have you ever awakened with the thought that maybe you want to quit?
I mean it.
Have you ever wanted to just throw in the towel and run away to an island on the far side of the world because maybe that would feel better than the daily grind.
Because who would notice anyway…
Well, if you have ever pondered any of the above, you’re not alone. I’ve quit everything, thrown in the towel, and plotted my escape to the proverbial deserted island a bunch of times. And then I pull myself up and out of bed, slowly sip my coffee, and converse with my Father regarding His plans for me in all the stuff that seems so menial.
“Your lives are like salt among the people. But if you, like salt, become bland, how can your ‘saltiness’ be restored? Flavorless salt is good for nothing and will be thrown out and trampled on by others.
Matthew 5:13 TPT
What spice is less glamorous than salt? And yet, I believe some amount of salt can be found in most any recipe. Salt is basic. It’s a foundational element.
It’s easy to feel that ordinary isn’t enough. Especially with so much marketing invading our daily lives through technology. However, in God’s instructions to His image bearers, it’s the basic and most simple stuff of life on which He points the focus.
Jesus didn’t demand the sensational of His disciples. He said to love God and then love their neighbor. He told His disciples to share the good news of the Kingdom. They were commissioned to follow Jesus’ lead which involved feeding the hungry, healing the sick, setting the captive free and caring for widows and orphans.
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Matthew 22:37-39 NIV
The instructions are no more complicated for us. Jesus, as He ascended to Heaven, commanded that we go and do the basics and know that He will always be with us in the middle.
It’s the practical stuff of our daily lives that makes a difference. It’s the salt!
So may I encourage you in the same way I encourage myself?
As often as these questions crop up, I call out to Jesus for the answers. Every time the temptation to throw in the towel looms large, I look to Jesus to be bigger.
The most effective strategy for overcoming the temptation to quit is to simply look at the people with whom I do life. I let them be my motivation.
If we’re to love God and love our neighbor, then I can ask God to help me see my part in that for today. And, if we’re to help meet the basic needs of those we live amongst then I can ask God to tune my ears and open my eyes so that I don’t miss an opportunity.
So, don’t quit calling out to Jesus. Don’t give up on your one ordinary life. Never give up dreaming, and don’t stop trying new things. Never give up faith, and hold fast to hope. Because this is your salt.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
It’s been my experience that as I embrace the mundane of the day and choose to live a life of basic salt, Jesus brings the spice of divine appointments. I do the ordinary and He adds the extraordinary. Then as I lay my head down at the end of the day, I’m grateful that I didn’t quit or throw in the towel or run away. For I would have been the one to miss out!
Salt is necessary. Be the very ordinary salt, and then watch what God makes of it.
Eyes on Jesus… You’re shining!
~Lisa
Eyes on Jesus and Shine 
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