Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
The difference between thermostats and thermometers is very significant. A thermometer merely takes a reading of the environment it is in, reflecting the reality as is. It gives the temperature of a given area. If it’s cold, the reading will reflect that. If it becomes warmer, the mercury in the gauge will expand and move upwards. Thermometers always adjust to their environment. Thermostats, on the other hand, change the temperature in the room. You can set the temperature higher or lower, and the whole environment will be adjusted and adapted to your chosen reading.
I fear more often than not I behave like a thermometer, even though I know I’m called to act like a thermostat. Thermostats didn’t exist in Jesus’ day, so he couldn’t ask us to be one of them. His equivalent metaphors were that we should be salt and light, influencing and changing our environments rather than being influenced and changed by them.
Most days we’ll be tempted to go along with negative humour, back-stabbing, grumbling, criticizing, and more. Without appearing superior, smug, or judgmental, let’s try today to be the encourager amidst the moaners, the clean amidst the smutty, the hopeful amidst the naysayers – the salt, the light, the thermostat.
Lord, in your strength, I choose to be a positive influence and agent of change today, raising the bar rather than being dragged down to the lower common denominator. Amen!
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