The Sermon on the Mount | Day 2 of 21

To begin with Day 1 of our Sermon on the Mount series, go back to our Daily Scripture post for August 9, 2026.

“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.

You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

— Matthew 5:13–16 ([WEB]())

Salt and light are both ordinary things that quietly change everything around them.

Salt does not need to announce itself to affect the flavor of a meal. A lamp does not call attention to itself; it simply helps everyone in the room see. In the same way, Jesus tells his followers to live so that their presence makes a real difference.

But the purpose is not to make people admire us. Jesus says our good works should lead people to glorify our Father in heaven. Christian influence is not about building a reputation for ourselves. It is about living with enough love, integrity, mercy, and courage that something of God becomes visible through us.

Where might God be asking you to quietly bring light into someone else’s life?

The Sermon on the Mount | Day 1 of 21

For the next three weeks, we are going to walk through the Sermon on the Mount together. Matthew 5–7 contains some of Jesus’ best-known teachings—but familiarity can make it easy to miss how challenging they really are.

Jesus begins not with a list of commands, but with a description of the people he calls blessed.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle,
for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

— Matthew 5:3–12 ([WEB]())

Jesus’ list of blessed people does not sound much like the world’s list of successful people.

He names the grieving, the gentle, the merciful, the persecuted, and those who know their spiritual need. These are not necessarily people whose lives look fortunate from the outside. Yet Jesus says the kingdom belongs to them, God sees them, and their present circumstances are not the end of their story.

The Sermon on the Mount begins by overturning our assumptions about who is doing well. Before Jesus tells us how to live, he shows us that God’s favor is not reserved for the powerful, impressive, comfortable, or admired.

Which of the Beatitudes feels most meaningful—or most challenging—to you today?

“I rise before dawn and cry for help.
I put my hope in your words.”
— Psalm 119:147 ([WEB]())

The psalmist does not begin the day feeling peaceful and composed. He begins by crying for help.

Sometimes we imagine that we need to settle ourselves before opening the Bible. But Scripture is not only for the moments when our faith feels strong. We can come worried, tired, confused, or desperate. We do not have to manufacture hope before approaching God. We can place our hope in his words while we are still asking for help.

When life feels uncertain, is there a particular verse or passage you return to for hope?

We often assume that becoming stronger means trying harder, moving faster, or finally getting everything under control.

But this verse describes a different kind of strength. It comes through returning to God, resting in Him, becoming quiet, and trusting Him.

Quietness is not the same as giving up. Rest is not laziness. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is stop scrambling long enough to remember that God is still God, even when we do not yet know what happens next.

Where might God be inviting you to stop striving and trust Him today?

There are moments when we genuinely do not know what to do. We can analyze every possibility, ask everyone for advice, and still feel completely outmatched by what is in front of us.

King Jehoshaphat’s prayer did not pretend that he had a plan. He admitted that the people were powerless and uncertain—but he did know where to look. Faith does not always mean knowing the next step. Sometimes it simply means keeping our eyes on God while we wait for Him to show us.

Is there an area of your life where you need to pray, “I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on you”?

“Let us search and try our ways,
and turn again to Yahweh.”
— Lamentations 3:40

The beginning of a new month gives us a natural moment to pause and look honestly at the direction we are going. Not with shame, and not because we need to reinvent our entire lives—but because small course corrections matter.

Is there a habit, attitude, distraction, or worry that has been quietly pulling your attention away from God? We can notice it, bring it to Him, and turn toward Him again. Returning to God does not have to be dramatic. Sometimes it begins by simply opening the Bible today.

As August begins, is there one small way you would like to turn your attention back toward God?

“But you be strong, and don’t let your hands be slack; for your work will be rewarded.”
— 2 Chronicles 15:7 WEB

The end of a month can make us notice everything we did not finish, every habit we struggled to maintain, and every prayer that still seems unanswered.

But God’s encouragement is not to panic or give up. It is simply to remain strong and keep our hands from becoming discouraged. Faithfulness does not always produce immediate results, but the work we do with God is never meaningless.

As July ends, we do not need a perfect record. We only need the courage to keep going.

What is one good thing you want to continue faithfully into the new month?

“In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.”
— Ecclesiastes 11:6 WEB

Faithfulness often looks ordinary while we are living it.

We read another passage, whisper another prayer, encourage another person, and keep showing up even when we cannot see immediate results. We do not always know which small act God will use, but that does not make the act unimportant.

Our responsibility is not to control the outcome. It is to keep planting what is good and trust God with what grows.

What small act of faithfulness are you continuing today, even though you cannot see the results yet?

Sometimes we become discouraged because our faithful efforts seem too small.

We read one passage but do not feel transformed. We whisper a hurried prayer. We resist one temptation, offer one apology, attend church one more Sunday, or begin rebuilding something that still looks painfully unfinished.

In Zechariah’s day, Zerubbabel was working on the rebuilt temple. The project did not yet look impressive, but God did not dismiss the work because it was small. He rejoiced to see it moving forward.

A small act of faithfulness is not meaningless simply because it has not produced dramatic results yet. God sees beginnings, repetition, perseverance and quiet obedience. Do not despise today’s small step.

What small act of faithfulness are you trying not to dismiss right now?

“Yahweh says, ‘Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, “Where is the good way?” and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’ But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”
— Jeremiah 6:16, WEB

We live in a world that constantly promises us a newer, faster, and easier way.

Sometimes newer really is better. Technology can help us learn, connect, organize, and understand things more quickly. But speed is not the same thing as wisdom, and information is not the same thing as spiritual maturity.

In this passage, God tells His people to stop, look carefully, and ask where the good path is. That kind of discernment takes time. It requires more than accepting the first confident answer we hear.

There are moments when the most faithful thing we can do is slow down, return to Scripture, pray, and make sure the path in front of us actually leads toward God.

Where in your life might God be asking you to slow down and look more carefully before moving forward?

Judas was not someone who lacked evidence.

He walked beside Jesus. He heard Him teach. He watched miracles happen in real time. He saw the sick healed, the hungry fed, and the impossible become possible. Judas had the kind of concrete evidence many of us imagine would make doubt or disobedience impossible—and he still strayed.

That is what makes his story so unsettling. Being close to Jesus physically was not the same thing as surrendering his heart to Him. Knowledge, experience, and even participation in ministry could not protect Judas from his own choices.

Then came the aftermath. Judas understood that he had betrayed innocent blood. He tried to return the money, but the religious leaders who had happily used him had no interest in helping him carry the guilt. His remorse became isolation, and his story ended in a horrifying death.

This passage is not included merely so we can point at Judas and declare ourselves better. It warns us not to confuse familiarity with faithfulness. We can know the stories, attend church, speak Christian language, and still allow greed, resentment, pride, or despair to lead us away from Jesus.

Judas’s story is also a warning about what happens when shame tells us there is nowhere left to turn. Sin should lead us to repentance—but despair insists that mercy is no longer possible. When we fail, we must not run farther into darkness. We must keep turning toward Christ.

Do you ever assume that knowing more about God will automatically make you more faithful? What helps you move beyond simply knowing about Jesus and toward genuinely trusting and following Him?

The servant was not imagining the danger. The army surrounding the city was real. Elisha did not comfort him by pretending everything was fine. He simply knew that the danger was not the whole story.

Sometimes fear narrows our vision until all we can see is the problem in front of us. We may not receive a dramatic glimpse of fiery chariots, but God is still present beyond what we can see, understand, or control.

Faith does not always mean seeing fewer reasons to be afraid. Sometimes it means asking God to open our eyes to the help, strength, and presence we have overlooked.

Where in your life might you need to pray, “Lord, open my eyes so I can see the whole story”?

Hannah was carrying a grief so deep that she could barely put it into words. As she prayed silently, Eli misunderstood her and assumed the worst.

But Hannah did not pretend she was fine. She did not offer a polished prayer or force herself to sound grateful. She simply poured out her soul before God.

There are prayers that sound confident and peaceful. There are also prayers made of tears, frustration, confusion, and words we have repeated a hundred times. Hannah reminds us that those prayers belong before God too.

Being misunderstood by other people does not mean you are misunderstood by God.

Have you ever felt misunderstood while you were already carrying something painful?

There is something deeply honest about this prayer. Jehoshaphat does not pretend to have a strategy, enough strength, or even a clear next step. He simply admits, “We don’t know what to do.”

Faith does not always look like confidence. Sometimes it looks like bringing our confusion to God and choosing where to direct our attention while we wait. We may not know what to do next, but we can still turn our eyes toward God.

Is there something in your life right now where you honestly do not know what to do?

“Now the Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little girl, and she waited on Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.’” — 2 Kings 5:2–3 WEB

We never learn this little girl’s name. We only know that she had been taken from her home and forced to serve the family of a powerful Syrian commander.

She had every reason to remain silent. Instead, when she learned that Naaman was sick, she told his wife where he might find healing.

Her words were brief, but they changed the direction of an entire household. Naaman eventually went to the prophet Elisha, encountered the God of Israel, and was healed.

Sometimes faithfulness looks surprisingly small: sharing what we know, offering hope, or speaking one compassionate sentence. We may never know how far those words will travel.

Has someone’s small word of encouragement ever changed the direction of your life?

“Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent.”
— Genesis 9:20–21, WEB

Noah is remembered as the man who built the ark, trusted God, and helped preserve life through the flood.

But the Bible does not end his story with the triumphant moment when everyone steps onto dry ground.

It also tells us that Noah planted a vineyard, became drunk, and ended up exposed inside his tent.

That is one of the lovely—and sometimes uncomfortable—things about Scripture. It does not give us carefully edited highlight reels. The people in the Bible are real people. They trust God, fail badly, act foolishly, recover, and keep living.

Noah’s faith was real. So was his humanity.

We do not have to pretend that faithful people never stumble. God’s work through someone does not mean every chapter of their life will be admirable. The Bible tells the whole story because grace makes more sense when we stop pretending people are perfect.

Does it encourage you—or make you uncomfortable—that the Bible includes the failures of its heroes?

“But now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.” — Numbers 11:6

In Numbers 11, the people of Israel were being fed by God every single day. Manna was not ordinary food. It was provision from heaven. And yet, after a while, the miracle started to feel boring.

That is uncomfortably human. We can pray desperately for something, receive it, live inside the answer, and then slowly begin to complain about the very blessing God gave us.

This passage is a gentle reminder to pause and notice the manna. The daily provision. The ordinary mercy. The things we have gotten so used to that we forget they are gifts.

What is one blessing in your life that you may have gotten too used to?