WEDNESDAY'S WORD - PRESERVE - Sadell Bradley 5/5/2021

 

WEDNESDAY'S WORD PRESERVE 5/5/2021 "If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever." -Thomas Aquinas

When I was 8 years old, I won a City-wide speakers contest sponsored by the African-American Baptist Churches in Philadelphia. That year, we memorized and recited Psalm 121, which has become one of my life verses. It reminds me that all of my help comes from the LORD and that He is responsible to keep and cover me. (vs. 2-6) I love the ending verses, "The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore." (vs. 7-8) Psalm 121 taught me that no matter the evil, distress, injury, adversity, or calamity— the LORD would PRESERVE me. This Hebrew word, shamar means to keep, watch, or attend to. It has the idea of God as a bodyguard, a gatekeeper, or a sentry, whose job it is to carefully watch over, protect and defend my soul: which includes my life, my mind, my emotions, and my choices. There are also a number of places in Scripture where the phrase "going out and coming in" refers to leadership. (Numb 27:17; 1 Sam 18:16; 2 Chron 1:10) God is preserving the ins and outs of my leadership forever. In English, PRESERVE has a similar meaning: to maintain or keep alive; to keep safe from harm or injury. The number of times I have been kept from dangers seen and unseen, or preserved within trying circumstances resulting from my own or other's decisions, cannot be counted.

WE ARE PRESERVATIVES FOR THE CULTURE In Matthew 5:13-14, Jesus describes His followers as preservatives—the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. PRESERVE also means to treat in order to prevent decomposition or decay. In addition to its flavor-enhancing properties, salt is a preservative. Theologian Deitrich Bonhoeffer said, "The disciples are the highest good, the supreme value which the earth possesses, for without them it cannot live. They are the salt that sustains the earth, for their sake the world exists..."Ye are the salt." Jesus does not say, "You must be the salt, or you have the salt..." It is not for the disciples to decide whether they will be the salt of the earth, for they are so whether they like it or not, they have been made salt by the call they have received." Though we are not all-powerful, or all-knowing like God, our operation is similar to the extent that we are to care for and keep watch over this world and to help to preserve its inhabitants from evil and wickedness. Creation waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed. (Rom. 8:19) Have you been staying in the port trying to preserve yourself instead of preserving this world? Get salty!

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