We are the Salt of the Earth

<Yesterday's missed post:  We are His children, see Revelation 21:6-7, and Romans 8.>

"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 underfoot."  Matthew 5:13

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encourages the people with a message of hope, both for the future and the present.  Monday I wrote about being light; today, we will talk about the salt.

Salt, as you know, is used for flavoring and preserving.  One thing that I didn't know is that salt, made up of the elements sodium and chlorine, is extremely stable and cannot lose its flavor.  How, then, does Jesus talk about salt being thrown out for being no good?

There are a few keys that I see.  First, just like Monday's topic, Jesus says that we ARE salt.  Not will be, or He hopes we will be, or we should strive to be.  We already are.  It is a matter of using it or not!  Are we going to use our salt to sprinkle flavor to those around us?  Look at how the Message phrases it:

What does it mean to be the salt of the earth? Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.    

Second, salt is used to enhance flavor, not to be the only flavor.  Have you ever over-salted something?  Yuck!  (And that's saying a lot coming from me, because I love salt!)  In other words, our lives are purposed to reflected God, not to reflect ourselves.  We can add value to the lives of others by pointing them back to Him, not to ourselves.

Third, I am reminded of the scripture in James, chapter 1:   "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do."  

In other words, if salt doesn't lose it's flavor, that means that it is a pretty strong component!  You don't have to worry about salt being unstable.  And we are to be the same way, right?

God thinks of us as the salt of the earth.  His earth.  He prepares us to be wise believers, people who can be strong and stable, influencing the world around us, reflecting His nature and glory.

Sounds great to me!