When salt is polluted, it becomes destructive and toxic. Polluted salt cannot be used. If we allow disobedience, carelessness and triviality to rule our lives, our salt is already polluted, and has lost its saltiness.
There are few flavours of crisps that I know of. I like some and do not like some. I know of one of them – Ready Salted, all the flavours are good, but what I notice is that despite all the of the different flavours, they’ve all got the same thing in common-Salt. Salt is a very important spice that food needs to make it tasteful. Without salt, food will be bland.
The value of salt cannot be under estimated, especially in the ancient Roman. The soldiers received their wages in salt. In the scripture, (Mathew 5:13), when Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth”, We are to serve as preservatives, stopping the moral decadence in this sinful world. As salt creates thirst, as children of God, we are to create a thirst for Christ. Salt also stops decay, Jesus’ disciples would be very familiar with the functions of salt, because I doubt if there was any refrigeration in their days. So salt would have been the only source of preservation. Without salt, their fishes would have been rotten all the time. Once salted, the fish could be safely stored, then used when needed.
The spiritual health and strength of believers of Jesus Christ is to neutralize the evil that is in the world. Followers of Jesus Christ, as salt, are to hinder sin’s power from destroying lives. This, in turn, creates opportunities for the gospel to be declared and established.
As children of God we have a been made the salt of the earth, but with a warning. The second half of Matthew 5:13 states: “But if salt loses its taste, how would its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men”. Jesus did not say that we can lose our salvation, but we can lose our saltiness. When salt is polluted, it becomes destructive and toxic. Polluted salt cannot be used. If we allow disobedience, carelessness and triviality to rule our lives, our salt is already polluted, and has lost its saltiness. There is need for repentance, so the Lord can restore us to our original use- restoring our glory.
It’s also important to remember that salt takes balance, too much can be dangerous and too little can make food bland. We need to add enough to make a difference but not so much that we overdo it and ruin relationships and the influence we have. Just like salt can lose its flavour, we can lose our influence.
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:13-16 – NLT). Jesus said that we must have the qualities of salt among ourselves. We are to be preservatives for our society, preventing decadence and evil, and we are to be so salty and so tasty that anyone who tastes of our flavour will keep coming back for more. And one way this saltiness will be communicated is in the quality of the peace in our relationships with one another.
Qualities of salt
1. Salt makes you thirsty
We need to live our lives in such a way that we make others thirsty for God. We should be living a life full of hope and love, regardless of our circumstances, so much so that people around us would ask us about why and how we have such hope.
2. Salt add seasoning, gives things flavour, and makes things taste good.
Salt is a seasoning. It’s intended to improve flavour and enhance taste. We, like salt, should spice up the community that we’re in, by adding something beneficial and tasty and also improve and add value to our community. We should always leave a place or person better than we found them, making people feel taller not smaller. It’s also important to remember that salt takes balance, too much can be dangerous and too little can make food bland. We need to add enough to make a difference but not so much that we overdo it and ruin relationships and the influence we have. Just like salt can lose its flavour, we can lose our influence.
3. Preserves
Salt, as a preservative, keeps things from getting rotten; we are to be a preservative agent in our world to bring sanity to the insanity in the world. We can make a difference in the world around to preserve goodness. We need to do our part by preserving God’s commands and standards by living right. Preservative acts and does not give room for decay, we must not sit and watch things decay around us.
TEXTS: MATT 5:13, LEV : 2:13, Mk 9:49
