Our Saltiness

“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” Matthew 5:13.

I’ll admit that I love salt a little too much, but thankfully I also love water which combats the salt. It was interesting to learn this morning after reading the commentary on this verse that most of the salt used in Israel at the time of this writing came from the Dead Sea and was full of impurities. 

I couldn’t help but to draw a parallel to our walk on earth and the significance for which God calls us to live. Our saltiness...our spiritual effectiveness...while on earth will be the result of our pursuit of righteousness. The more we strive to live as Jesus did the more flavorful our offerings will be to others. If we sprinkle the salt of mercy on those who ridicule us we have pursued righteousness. If we sprinkle God’s wisdom on confusing circumstances, we have pursued holiness. If we sprinkle grace on those who have wounded us we have pursued forgiveness. We can never go wrong by flavoring mankind with the salt of God’s character. God can be accessed in His abundance through spending time in His living waters of the Word. Our spiritual saltiness will be effected by our daily liquid intake of Scripture…prayer… worship.

When we choose to follow the culture, we will lose our spiritual effectiveness through the gradual acceptance and compromise of what man says is truth. We will become dead in our testimonies when we allow impurities to enter our hearts. Our behavior will come from the dead seas of our habits. We become bland at best in our examples and tasteless in our behavior. We no longer stand out but stand back.

Salt sets a recipe apart like no other ingredient, and so will our effectiveness if we continue to pursue God’s holiness, His righteousness and His character.