“Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savour, wher ewith shall it be salted?  It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5:13).

In the New Testament, six verses mention salt. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus referred to his followers as the "salt of the earth". The apostle Paul also encouraged Christians to "let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt"  Colossians 4:6).

Among our condiments, the one we would probably miss the most would be salt.  Hardly a dish is prepared without a bit of salt for flavor.

Estimates have been made that salt has 14,000 uses.  Americans alone average use is 400 pounds each per year.  This includes water conditioning, highway salt, agriculture salt, food grade salt and chemical salt.  Animals and humans alike require both sodium and chloride for life and health.  Since the body cannot manufacture either, they are “essential” nutrients.  Table salt consists of tiny cubes tightly bound together through ionic bonding.

It is no wonder that Jesus would use salt as a teaching object.  He said we are the “salt of the earth.”  Its myriad uses and its properties point out how valuable we are to the “earth” to introduce Jesus to its inhabitants.  Just as our bodies cannot manufacture salt’s properties that are vital to our good health, the “earth” cannot manufacture its own salvation; nor can we provide usefulness and service to the Kingdom of God without His input in our lives.  Just as Christ touches every facet of our lives, we in turn touch others in some way every time we contact them.

It is no small thing to be the “salt of the earth”!  It is a great and wondrous responsibility.  We represent our Lord on this earth, and how we live our lives will determine whether we are the ‘salt’ they need or worthless to be cast aside. 

Salt acts as a preservative and adds flavor to the dullest of foods.  In homes and eating establishments, we have salt containers available.  Have you noticed how varied the shapes, sizes, materials and colors are?  They may be of crystal, glass, metal, wood or even paper, shaped simply or elaborate, plain or brightly colored—just like the family of God who are salt containers for the world.  The containers have no bearing on the value of the salt; the usefulness is in the contents (salt), not the container.

When we meet together in God’s house, we get our salt renewed.  I guess you could say the “salt gets salted.”  Actually our salt becomes mingled as we hear the Word and worship as a unit.  This enables us to go back into the world with our varied containers and be the “Salt of the Earth.”

“I was once a nut in a brown paper bag,

until Jesus salted me

and tossed me to the world

to make it thirsty for Him.”

Salt is tenacious.  It can become hardened in its container if it isn’t stored in a favorable environment; but if you touch your tongue to it, you will find it still tastes salty, but it will not distribute from the shaker.  It can be broken up again and be useful.  It can be spilled outside its container but gathered again and put back where it belongs and used.  Cares of life can hit us so hard that we become hardened, but the love hammer of God can break us and put us back in use.  We can be so devastated by life’s happenings that we get spilled, but God’s love will gather us to His bosom and put us back together in our container.

Jesus said our salt could lose it savor and saltiness and be cast out as useless.  How can that happen?  I can think of only two ways for table salt to become useless and for us to lose our saltiness and cast away. 

One way is for salt to become contaminated.  Sin causes pollution; un-repented of it will pollute our Christian witness.  We are “in the world, but not of it.”  Once we become part of the world, we are no longer usable; we are contaminated.  If our lives are no different from the ‘earth’ to which we have been sprinkled by Jesus as salt, we become contaminated and ineffective, “un-salty” and of no value to the Kingdom.  The only process to purify us is the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all contaminants.

The other way for salt to lose its usefulness is to become diluted.  Salt can become diluted to the point that it is no longer salty.  Used properly, salt added to food would enhance its flavor; but if we keep adding ingredients, eventually we would not able to detect the salt and the mixture would not be tasty.  We can dilute the salt in our lives by adding ingredients that make us unsavory and useless; no one will be thirsty for Jesus because of us.  This is our purpose—for the Holy Spirit to use us to point people to Christ Jesus, but when we add things to our lives that are contrary to our Christian walk or attempt to redefine the Word of God to justify what we don’t want to obey, we will soon dilute our saltiness to the point of not being salty at all.  God may have to put us through an evaporation process to remove the added ingredients that have made us unsavory.

 Only Jesus can make us pure “Salt of the Earth”.

It is important that we keep our “containers” pure from contamination and add nothing to the property of the salt so that we can make the world thirsty for the living water of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Unlike table salt which used in excess, can cause health issues, the Salt of God’s Word will enhance lives, not diminish them.  Even so, it must be administered with the anointing of Love, not condemnation, to add flavor and spiritual substance to those receiving it.

May our dispensers be full and pure for the Master's use!

~~Delores~