In what way
is salt good, or desirable? It can preserve and provide taste. In the ancient
world, prisoners tended to be the ones who mined the salt from the earth. It
was a difficult and dangerous job. Also, there tended to be more salt usage
among the more financially successful than the poor.
In the gospel of Luke (14:34) Jesus pronounces
that salt is considered good and desirable. In his gospel Luke refers to the fruit
of one’s life, a measure being pressed
down, shaken and running over, a person
and his heart, soil that receives the word of God, Peter’s assessment to Jesus
of their being present during the Transfiguration, and the beautiful stones that adorned the
temple with the adjective “good.” All of these things are good and desireable.
Salt is good. One’s influence in
life is good and desirable. But if salt
loses its flavor and power, how can it be restored? Once salt has lost its
potency, it cannot be restored. It is not fit for anything. It is so useless
that it is thrown away into a landfill.
He who has ears to hear, let him
hear.
Sit up and take notice about this
stuff related to salt. Our influence,
Christian character, and condition of our inner being and heart needs to be
“good.” Such goodness comes from Jesus and is patterned after his life. If I lose my influence and character, how can
it be restored? Most of the time it is hard. Sometimes it may even be
impossible.
Metaphorically, I am that box of
salt that God picks up and uses for His divine purposes in the world. But if I
have lost my “saltiness,” how can God use me in the world? Out of the
saltshaker, and into the world…but only if I have retained my saltiness!
In Christian
love, Curtis
