2025-02-19A
A. I AM ACTUALLY JUST A SALT CARRIER, A SALT POT.
You are the salt of the earth, … (Matt. 5:13)
When the Lord says His followers are the salt of the earth, we must keep in mind that we are actually only the bearer of the salt, the salt shaker, and that He who lives within us, is the Heavenly Salt, just as He says that we are only earthen vessels in which the Gospel is carried around and from which it is poured.
B. EVERYONE CAN BE A SALT BEARING CONTAINER.
In 2 Kings 5:3 we read of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He had a young servant girl in his home who had been taken from her parents’ home as a prisoner of war during one of their onslaughts on Israel. She was not filled with bitterness or self-pity about her lot, but carried the heavenly salt she had received in her parents’ home with her, in her heart, to the foreign land.
One day she noticed that her mistress was sad and worried because her husband, a prominent citizen and war hero, was leprous and no one could heal him. She did not hesitate but immediately made herself available to the Lord to sprinkle His salt on the life of the pagan woman and said to her mistress: “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria, then he would take away his leprosy”. (She was of course referring to the prophet Elisha who lived in Israel). Just these few words from the mouth of a youngster.
Naaman gave heed to her words and traveled to Elisha where he was fully healed of this terrible disease. He also came to faith in God and brought home a load of sand to build an altar to Him. Never again would he bow his knees to an idol. Oh, the power of a few grains of salt from the life of a teenager. God had also used her to temporarily end the wars between Israel and the Arameans.
In John 6:9 again, we read of a little boy who placed in Jesus’ hands, his few grains of salt in the form of 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes his mother had given him as a snack for lunch. With these the Lord filled the empty stomachs of 5,000 men. It is not always about how much we have to give, but rather whether we are willing to share our little with others – or are we afraid that we ourselves may suffer lack? The boy probably returned home with more bread and fish than he had set off with.
Then, there was Mary who, shortly before Jesus’ crucifixion, anointed his feet with her precious perfume of nard. Of this He said:
She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand to the burial . (Mark 14:8).
If she had kept her perfume for His burial, she would not have been able to use it because when the women came to the tomb on the third day to treat His body with herbs, He had already risen. The moment God tells you to spread your salt, you must do it quickly because later it may be too late.
Another thought: the salt shaker may grow old but not the salt. As the years go by, the salt shaker becomes wrinkled, the eyes glassy, the fingers crooked, the hands shaky, but the Christ who dwells in the heart remains the same: yesterday, today and forever. Even in the intensive care unit where the Lord’s disciple rests against the piled-up pillows, the broken words of faith that flow from her lips are still fresh and powerful and a blessing to others.
So the crux of the matter is: Everyone can be a salt shaker for Christ.
C. A SALT POT MUST BE FILLED REGULARLY.
When I buy a salt shaker containing salt, I don’t get a guarantee that it will stay full for life. The more salt I sprinkle, the more often I will have to refill it. Even Jesus realized that power had flowed from Him when the woman with the issue of blood touched Him and was healed (Mark 5:30).
To fill a salt shaker, it must first be opened; if it has a screw-on lid, it must be unscrewed. Many children of the Lord have a quiet time somewhere during the day but emerge unfulfilled, empty, because they have not opened themselves to the Spirit of God to flow into them afresh. In reality, it is only Jesus’ hand that can unscrew my closed heart, but I must keep my eyes on Him in faith and not give up until I have received heavenly salt from Him and can face life again, full and refreshed.
When Jacob had wrestled with Jesus all night long, at dawn, when the eastern horizon was slowly lighting up, he clung to Him even more desperately, saying:
I will not let you go unless you bless me ( Gen 32:26).
And the Lord answered his prayer, blessed him and called him a “Prince with God” for succeeding in gaining the victory by faith.
D. THE SALT SHAKER MUST BE PLACED IN GOD’S HAND.
Although almost every dish requires a little salt, it must be used judiciously and also varies from dish to dish. You don’t put salt in your coffee!
We need to know when to talk about Scripture with people and when not to; also who to talk to and who not to talk to and how to talk to and how not to talk to. Salt is good, but its misused, can do more harm than good.
Jesus was a perfect example in this. He was tactful and did not cause unnecessary offense.
When the Pharisees wanted to engage Him in an argument over the right or wrong of paying taxes to Caesar, He avoided an unpleasant exchange of words by asking them whose image was on the coin He held in His hand. When they replied that it was Caesar’s, He replied that Caesar was therefore entitled to their monetary taxes. Likewise, God was entitled to their spiritual taxes (in Who’s image they were made). So there was no conflict between God and Caesar on this issue, as they supposed. They could not take offense at this answer and were amazed at His wisdom (Matt. 22:21).
When they brought to Him a woman caught in adultery, demanding that she be stoned as prescribed by the Law given through Moses, He suggested that he who was without sin, cast the first stone at her. Then He knelt down and wrote something in the soil, affording them the opportunity of leaving unobservedly, and without embarrassment (John 8:4-9).
However, there were also occasions when He rubbed salt into their wounds, calling them a brood of vipers and whitewashed tombs that appeared pious on the outside but were full of dead men’s bones on the inside (Matt 23:33).
The salt shaker of my life must therefore be in God’s hand so that He can use the salt as He knows will be to the greatest benefit of His Name!
DO ALSO READ THE NEXT STUDY IN THIS SERIES