Friday, December 4, 2009

Searchin' For Our Lost Shaker of Salt




Before anyone gets curious and wonders if this post is in reference to that famous Jimmy Buffet song, it is not. However, as followers of Christ sometimes we do lose our saltiness. Hopefully this post will encourage those who have lost their saltiness (current typist included) to find that shaker of salt and get back to being the "salt of the earth" as Jesus mentioned on the Sermon on The Mount in 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 by men."

I'd like to take a practical, physical look at salt and tie it into how it is a great metaphor for our spiritual walk. I'd like to take a look at 4 qualities of salt and how we can relate it to our walk.

I) Salt seasons
There is a reason a salt shaker is on most kitchen tables and most restaurant tables. It is to add flavor and quality to the food it comes into contact with. This is how we should be as followers of Christ. We should have a quality about us and a "flavor" about us that enhances the lives of all we come in contact with. So much so that those people come back to us for another "sprinkle" of our lives to touch them. As followers of Christ we should not keep all the salt for ourselves. Salt does no one any good if it stays in the shaker and is not dispersed. Colossians 4:6 "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man."

II) Salt preserves
In the days before refrigeration, salt was used to keep food from spoiling. Salting was an effective method of food preservation historically; as it draws water out of bacteria through osmotic pressure preventing them from reproducing and causing food to spoil. Much like salt in those days, we need to help preserve the Word of God in the world by keeping it in our hearts and on the tips of our tongues. We need to preserve this country as a Christian nation and not allow the name of Christ to be taken away from our schools and our daily life. We need to be able to give a scripture to someone as encouragement or to help them with a problem. We also need to be able to help preserve the christian walk of other followers of Christ who may have temporarily, through trials, lost their saltiness.

III) Salt cleanses
Salt is used in producing soaps, detergents, and other bath products. As followers of Christ we are called to help cleanse people of their mortal sins by introducing them to Christ. Ephesians 5:25-26 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." By using the Word of God we can help to cleanse the lost people in the world and reconcile them to God through Christ. Mark 9:50 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

IV) Salt stings
If you have ever had so much as a paper cut and then had salt get into the wound, you know how badly it stings. When we proclaim Christ we are going to offend many non believers and be a painful irritation to them much like salt does to a wound. The "world" is wounded with sin and when we allow our salt to penetrate into that wound, it is going to sting and the world will resist us. We need to stand firm and not be afraid to salt the wounds of the world. This is not to be mean. On the contrary, it is to allow the world to feel the pain of their sins thus hopefully causing the world to do something about it by turning from their ways and turning to Christ. Our salt in their wound is to be used for their healing much like salt can heal a physical wound.

So the next time you sit down to eat and get ready to sprinkle some salt on your food, why not instead sprinkle your salt on someone else that needs it. Not only will it lower your blood pressure, it will lower theirs.

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