July 19, 2026
— Andrew Gih · Source: Preaching and Revival
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Pastor Ji Zhiwen's warnings and the teachings of Jesus Christ serve as a mirror, pointing directly to the comfort in our hearts. Secularization rarely collapses overnight; rather, it is the gradual cooling of spirituality through the pursuit of comfort and compromise with the world. When the church or we as individuals lose our witness of holiness, self-sacrifice, and bearing the cross, no matter how respectable our outward appearance, we are nothing more than "salt that has lost its preservative and seasoning properties." Without separating ourselves from the world, we cannot bring change in the darkness.
Our loving Lord, forgive us for often indulging in the desires of the flesh and imitating the ways of the world, losing our initial zeal in comfort. May Your Word once again stir our hearts, granting us a spirit of alertness and repentance, burning away the coldness and hypocrisy within us. Lord, heal the secularization of the church, revive our lives, and enable us to willingly take up our cross daily, living out a testimony of self-sacrifice and holiness, being an inextinguishable lamp and undiminished salt in the world. Amen.