Thursday

Related Verses
Matt. 5:13
13 You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become tasteless, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men.

Luke 17:32
32 Remember Lot’s wife.

Gen. 19:24, 26
24 Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven.
26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Luke 14:31-32, 33-34, 35
31 Or what king, going to engage another king in war, will not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 Otherwise, while he is yet at a distance, he sends an envoy and asks for the terms of peace.
33 In the same way therefore everyone of you who does not forsake all his own possessions cannot be My disciple.
34 Therefore salt is good; but if even the salt becomes tasteless, with what will its saltiness be restored?
35 It is fit neither for the land nor for the manure pile; they will throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Rev. 3:21
21 He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne.

Related Reading
David’s stopping established a twofold testimony in the universe. First, all the work in the universe should come from God, not from man. Second, all that matters is what God does for man, not what man does for God. David wanted to build a temple for God, but God said that He would build a house for David from which a kingdom would come forth. Even after God spoke this word to David, he fell twice. First, he murdered Uriah and usurped his wife Bath-sheba (2 Sam. 11:2-17, 26-27). Second, he numbered the children of Israel (24:1-10). It is amazing that after the murder of Uriah, Bath-sheba bore David a son, Solomon, and after David was chastised by God for numbering the people, he offered sacrifices on a piece of land, as instructed by God, which later became the site for the building of the temple (vv. 18-25; 1 Chron. 21:1; 2 Chron. 3:1). 

The son and the site for the building of the temple both came out of David’s being forgiven of his sins. Those who can see this will bow their head and worship God, saying, “It is not we who can do something for You, but You who does something for man.”…God wants only our cooperation; He does not need us to do anything for Him…We must stop all our opinions, decisions, and ideas; we need to let Him speak, let Him come in, and let Him command. All we need to do is cooperate with Him. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” p. 284) 

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The “you” in Matthew 5:13 refers to the overcoming believers in the kingdom life. Furthermore, being the salt of the earth is a corporate matter, not an individual matter…It is as a corporate entity that the kingdom people are the salt of the earth. If we separate ourselves from the church life, we cannot be such salt. 

For us to be the salt of the earth means that we keep the earth from being fully corrupted…The earth, which was created by God, has become fallen. In a sense, it has become rotten and corrupted. But salt kills germs, eliminates rottenness, and preserves things in their original condition…Hence, the function of salt is to preserve what God has created. The entire earth is becoming more and more rotten…To the corrupted earth the people of the kingdom of the heavens are the element that keeps the earth from being fully corrupted. They have the salting function of killing germs, eliminating rottenness, and keeping things in their original condition or bringing them back to their God-created condition. 

When the millennial kingdom comes, the whole earth will be salted. All the germs on earth will be utterly killed, and the whole earth will be not only regained by Christ but also brought back to its God-created condition. This work will be done by the kingdom people. Wherever the kingdom people are, they should exercise a salting influence over those around them. In our neighborhoods we should exercise our function of killing germs…If we are poor in spirit, mourning, meek, righteous, merciful, and pure in seeking God, we shall have a salting function. There will be no need to rebuke others or point out their mistakes and shortcomings. They will be salted simply by our presence. This is what it means to be the salt that kills the germs of this corrupted earth. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 1157-1158) 

Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt because she took a lingering look backward at Sodom. That look indicated that she loved and treasured the evil world that God was about to judge and utterly destroy. She was rescued from Sodom, but she did not reach the safe place that Lot reached (Gen. 19:15-30). She did not perish; neither was she fully saved. Like the salt that becomes tasteless (Luke 14:34-35), she was left in a place of shame. This is a solemn warning to world-loving believers. (Life-study of Luke, p. 328) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Luke, msgs. 33, 39