Salt That's Gone Bad

I enjoy cooking at times. Actually, I enjoy baking: bread, cookies, bread, more bread. It’s my jam. Or rather, butter. I like butter better. Especially salted butter. Yummmm! Anyways, my point is, I enjoy creating things in the kitchen and then consuming them. Which is why I workout. But that’s not what this post is about. I digress.

One ingredient that is in pretty much every recipe is salt. From a pinch of salt to a whole lot of salt. Salt balances out sugary cookies. It helps season meat, create taste, pull out other flavors. It is a staple ingredient for every kitchen. It’s needed. But what if one day I was pulling out my salt to season a steak or chicken and my salt had lost all flavor? It would be entirely useless. Just small granules like sand being sprinkled on my food. I wouldn’t put the lid back on this useless salt and place it back in the cupboard. Instead, I would throw it out, slightly irritated that this salt had lost its saltiness.

In the Book of Matthew we read how salt is used as an illustration for those who profess to be Christians. In Jesus’ own words he said:

“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 NIV)

We were created BY God, FOR God to be used for HIS purposes and FOLLOW His will. When we choose to live outside of that, following our own paths, our own purposes, but still wear the badge Christianity, we no longer are set apart. We are no longer living counter to the culture around us as we are called to do, but blend in and confuse those around us.

In the commentary study note portion of my NIV Life Application Study Bible it states, “If Christians make no effort to affect the world around them, they are of little value to God. If we are too much like the world, we are worthless. Christians should not blend in with everyone else. Instead, we should affect others positively, just as seasoning brings out the best flavor in food.”

As one who is a Believer and writes to fellow Believers, we are CALLED, and it is God’s WILL that we imitate the life of Jesus. That we walk as He walked. And not by our own ideas of Him, but by the very red letters we read that He spoke.

If it has been a while since you have truly sought after the Lord, or spent time with Him; or if you know that while you may wear the title “Christian,” your life doesn’t really match up with His as a Christ Follower, I want to urge you to begin placing His Truth back into your life. Seasoning your life not by the world’s standards of living, but Christ’s standards. Not sure where to start, open the Book of Matthew and begin reading at chapter 5, the red letters spoken by Jesus, His sermon on the mount.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again?”