“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?”
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light…”
“No one can serve two masters…”
The distinctiveness of singularity. Think about four examples from Matthew 5 & 6
Each phrase indicates a distinctive purpose and each is tied to being a disciple of Jesus. Salt in the ancient world was more of a preservative than a seasoning. It had the ability to keep what it permeated preserved unchanged once it saturated what it touched. Light has the property of manifesting the nature of its source and also has the characteristic of dispelling the darkness. Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light.
‘The eye is the lamp of the body so if your eye is healthy your whole body will be full of light’ refers to the eye being singular, undistorting, clear such that images entering are exact representations of the source. The term ‘healthy’ is haplous in Greek and is a term from the market where a piece of fabric is folded in such a way that the integrity of the piece is not hidden, it is without flaw, appearing exactly as it is.
Last, ‘No one can serve two masters’ is an oxymoron for a master is the one to whom a person or object belongs in such a relationship that the master alone decides the course the server may take. You can only have one master.
In each example, Jesus reminds us of the singular nature of following Him as a disciple. As Salt our nature has been changed and anything we touch will also be changed. As Light, we manifest His source within us so that where we are is lit up by His presence in us. In relationship with Him, we are clarity to those who see Him through the filter of our life. We are accurately ‘in His image’ and a clear image of Him shown out through the lens of our lifestyle in Him. And we only serve one Master, having no other priorities or allegiances, no distractions or entanglements.
Isn’t it amazing how much the LORD can pack into such concise phrases. Let us live in Him with singularity today.