After telling his children to stay in the house, a father walked from the house through the early morning snow, he looked back to see his three children trying with great difficulty to place their small feet in his steps. He returned the children to the house and reminded them of what he had told them. The oldest child said, "we heard you dad, but we want to go where you go". The father thought about those words all day and that night prayed to God that he might be the right kind of influence for his children.

Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth....You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13-14). We often underestimate the potential of our influence. The common people that were called by Christ for an uncommon purpose needed to understand their true importance in the world in which they lived. Like salt they possessed persevering power and like light they showed the way in an age of darkness. There is power in goodness, mercy, love, benevolence, truth, forgiveness, honesty, and all the other virtues that should mark the Christian life. Like salt saves meat from rottenness, those who love and follow the teaching of Christ can save the society in which they live.

Jesus said even salt could lose it's taste and become good for nothing. If Christians become just like the world around them they have lost their influence. Their is always the temptation to blend in, to be accepted, to not be different, to be loved by the world, to be popular with our peers. But if in so doing one must compromise the values of the Christian life, then the salt has lost it's saltiness. It's not about being different for difference sake, it's about living up to the standard to which the Lord has called His people. Paul's exhortation to the Philippians was to "conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ..." (Philippians 1:27). You may be but one, but the influence of one has the potential for much good.

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