A Preserving Power

[Daily Devotional]

A Preserving Power 

Ye are the salt of the earth. Matt. 5: 13. 

By these words of Christ we gain some idea of what constitutes the value of
human influence. It is to work with the influence of Christ, to lift where
Christ lifts, to impart correct principles, and stay the progress of the
world's corruption. It is to diffuse that grace which Christ alone can
impart. It is to uplift, to sweeten, the lives and characters of others by
the power of a pure example united with earnest faith and love. God's people
are to exercise a reforming, preserving power in the world. They are to
counterwork the destroying, corrupting influence of evil. . . . 

The work of the people of God in the world is to restrain evil, to elevate,
to purify, and to ennoble mankind. The principles of kindness and love and
benevolence are to uproot every fiber of the selfishness that has permeated
all society and corrupted the church. . . . If men and women will open their
hearts to the heavenly influence of truth and love, these principles will
flow forth again, like streams in the desert, refreshing all, and causing
freshness to appear where now are barrenness and dearth. The influence of
those who keep the way of the Lord will be as far- reaching as eternity.
They will carry with them the cheerfulness of heavenly peace as an abiding,
refreshing, enlightening power. { AG 124.3} Again, there is to be an open
influence. Christ says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." . . . 

The light that shines from those who receive Jesus Christ is not self-
originated. It is all from the Light and Life of the world. . . . Christ is
the light, the life, the holiness, the sanctification, of all who believe,
and His light is to be received and imparted in all good works. In many
different ways His grace is also acting as the salt of the earth;
whithersoever this salt finds its way, to homes or communities, it becomes a
preserving power to save all that is good, and to destroy all that is evil.
True religion is the light of the world, the salt of the earth. . . . 

The fountain of grace and knowledge is ever flowing. It is inexhaustible. It
is from this abundant fulness that we are supplied. 

>From God's Amazing Grace - Page 123