February 8, 2026
Look at our picture today. What is it? It’s a saltshaker. You probably have one of these at home.
What are some things we do with salt? Perhaps you like salt on popcorn, or on other food that you eat. Salt helps to bring out flavour on food.
Jesus says something interesting in our Gospel. Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). We are the salt of the earth. All believers are salt to the earth.
You don’t look like salt to me! What do you think Jesus means by that? Jesus means that Christians are able to make life taste better, that is, make the world a better place to be. How can we do that? That’s right—we do it like Jesus did.
Jesus helped people who were sick. Jesus was a friend to the lonely. He forgave the guilty. Jesus gave hope to those who were lost. He showed that God loves people and helps people, even when life is difficult. That makes life better.
Now, Jesus did things we cannot do—like dying on the cross to forgive our sins and rising to life on Easter. But Jesus’ dying and rising for us is the reason we can do some of the things He did. See, Jesus’ death on the cross has given us heaven and also gives us every other good thing we receive. We receive love, kindness, and care from God because our sin no longer stands between us and God. So when we have God’s love and caring and kindness, we can love and care for other people—like Jesus does.
Jesus wants us to tell and show what His love is like. But here’s something to remember about how we do that: If I want this salt to flavour my popcorn, what do I need to do? That’s right, I need it to come out of the shaker and get onto the food. In the shaker, it does no good. So what do we need to do to be salt to the world? It means we don’t just speak about Jesus in here, in church, but we do it outside, let it get out. We try to make our homes, schools, and neighbourhoods better by speaking about and living in the way that Jesus says.
Dear Jesus, thank you for loving each of us. Help us share Your love; help us make this world a better place to be. Amen.