Salty Salt

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again?  It is good for nothing, except to be thrown our and trampled under foot by men.”  Matthew 5:13

            There are few things better than salt. Chocolate, maybe. Dark chocolate, with thin layer of caramel and sprinkled with sea salt can cure any ill. Salt enhances flavor. 

            Salt was a very valuable commodity in Biblical times, valuable enough to often be used in place of currency for trade. Salt was used to season and preserve food, an important function in a hot land with no refrigeration.  Salt was an ingredient in the sacred anointing oil and in sacrifices. It represented purity.  Newborns were rubbed with salt, and it was considered a cure for toothache and decay.  Salt was an important ingredient in the sealing of an agreement.  The details of the agreement had to all be hammered out and the parties had to be at peace with each other before sharing a meal with any salt.  Once the meal was eaten, both parties were under a “covenant of salt” and the visiting party was under his host’s protection.

            Jesus said that we, His followers, are the salt of the earth.  Just as salt was an integral part of society and daily life, so we are to permeate our society.  We are to flavor everything we touch.  We are part of what preserves our society and keeps it from becoming rotten.  Our influence should be felt everywhere we go.  Like salt, we can help restore good spiritual health.  Those who enter our hospitality should know that in us they have found safety and peace, a place where they can find truth and purity.

            When salt lost its saltiness, when it could no longer perform the functions of preservation and health, it was not thrown away.  It still had value.  It was collected in large earthenware jars and stored in a room in the Temple.  When winter rains came and the marble and stone floors became wet and slippery, salt was spread on them to reduce slippage, thus it was trampled under the foot of man.

            We are the salt of the earth.  God will use us in this world to draw men to Himself.  When we choose to live in a way that no longer points out the difference God makes in our lives, we lose our saltiness.  If we have lost our ability to function as salt, we will still be used by God, but not in the way we were intended to be used or for our original purpose. 

            Once again, the choice is ours.

            Lord Jesus, I want to be salt for You.  I want You to use me however You have purposed.  Open my eyes to sin in my life, and to the attitudes and actions that reduce my effectiveness for You.  Use me as You will.  Purify me and make me willing.