2025-02-23A
THIS IS THE FOURTH OF A SERIES OF STUDIES ON THE BIBLICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SALT. TO TURN TO THE PREVIOUS STUDIES, TAP MIXED TOPICS .
A. PURE TABLE SALT.
You are the salt of the earth, … . (Matt 5:13)
Understand the quality and cost of good salt.
The salt Jesus referred to would be table salt. Coarse yellowish salt is good enough to treat a presently skinned hide to preserve it, but a wise housewife selects fine table salt in the grocery store to serve to her guests. Suppliers of that quality of salt do not simply scrape it up from the ground into bags, then sell it. Such salt is mixed with sand and other impurities. They put in much effort to process it properly so that only the best will be offered on the store shelf.
Likewise, I must know, from the outset, that to give effect to Jesus’ call for us to be heavenly salt to this world, our lives will have to be of a special quality, an unworldly quality and will require supernatural effort to produce.
It has to be pure.
True heavenly salt is first of all pure. That means, it is not a little of Christ mixed with a little lust, a little anger, a little greed, a little drinking, and whatever else. It requires considerable effort to be pure on the inside. It takes time to study and meditate on God’s Word to determine what quality salt tastes like; it must have a Jesus flavour. Then I must learn to produce it. This calls for self-denial: a constant, deliberate surrender so that He can become more and I less. More salt; less sand.
Upholding the quality.
True heavenly salt is always the same. The salt in my salt-shaker must be fine, pure white table salt from the first grain to the very last. I must not, after a number of shakes, have used up the upper layer and start shaking out sand. Complaining and grumbling are grains of sand. If I sprinkle salt mixed with sand over someone’s food, it will grind under his teeth and he will disgustedly cry out: “No thanks, keep that for yourself!”
Testifying of the goodness of Jesus, followed by grumbling about your small salary, ungrateful husband or naughty children will not do. The latter part of your talk will be like sand to your earlier rejoicing, causing your listeners to spit out the heavenly salt part together with the worldly sandy portion. They will reason by themselves: “He is no different than me.”
Cultivating a joyful spirit.
To become angry with others and especially to remain angry, to cherish a grudge, is another type of sand that contaminates the salt in my salt-shaker. When my temper flares up, I am behaving like the pagans who get angry about everything and with everyone and repay injustice with fire.
To maintain your joy under all circumstances is producing pure heavenly salt, something you cannot buy off a store shelf but must create within yourself; by God’s power. You must cultivate a joyful spirit like you do your tomatoes, grapes or lilies: preparing the soil, planting, watering, weeding, pruning and spraying of insecticide; a daily ongoing job. Paul suffered much yet instructs us to rejoice in the Lord:
Rejoice in the Lord always; I repeat: Rejoice! (Phil 4:4).
To be thus occupied all day long, trains you to continually look Upwards for grace.
Cultivating a carefree spirit.
Worrying about things you cannot change, turns your inner salt into lemon jouice. Pouring that onto someones juicy, roasted rumpsteak may immediately close the door of opportunity to win your new friend to Christ. Much, much better to cast your heavy burden onto Jesus, for He cares for you. Then share with others the peace of God that fills your heart.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6,7)
This is a divine promise! Get rid of your worries and peace will flood your heart.
Become a factory of heavenly salt.
Once you have inner peace, turn your heart into a factory of heavenly salt by continually thinking as God thinks.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things. (Phil 4:8).
When such salted thoughts fill your mind, you speak positive, hopeful, life imparting words to friend and foe. Then you reach God’s goal for your life: you become salt to society. Then you tell the world that God is a loving Father and not an angry judge.
B. SALT THAT LOST ITS TASTE.
Matt 5:13: … if the salt has lost its taste, how can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
How terrible: the lable on the container reads, “Table salt”, but when I shake some into the palm of my hand and lick it up, it is entirely without taste. I have wasted my money on a good for nothing white, worthless powder!
“Throw it away. Throw it outside into the street where it cannot spoil the fertile soil!” says the Lord. To meet a backslidden Christian, a salt crucible whose salt has lost its salty taste, is a tragic experience. It is like watching an eagle with broken wings scurrying around in a chicken pen or seeing Samson, the once mightiest man in the world, now with empty eye sockets, grinding wheat for his enemy, the Philistines.
Once, while I was handing out tracts at a railroad station during an Easter weekend, a man who had received one turned back to me and said sadly, “You know, there was a time in my life when I was on fire for the Lord. Just like you I went out on the streets making disciples for Jesus, but I gradually lost my enthusiasm and today I just can’t seem to get excited about Him and the things of His Kingdom anymore.” I tried to encourage him to give his life back to the Lord, but he just shook his head sadly, turned and followed his family back home.
Whether science can restore the seasoning to salt that has lost its unique quality and taste, I don’t know, but to renew a child of God who has grieved the Holy Spirit over a long period of time to heaven quality salt is not easy; look, he has lost his first love.
Do not let that happen to you. Watch, pray, rejoice in the Lord, praise and thank Him for every new morning, for every happy day, testify of His goodness to others and add word to deed by doing good to them and you will go from strength to strength in the Lord and be a great blessing to your family, neighbours, your employer and your colleagues!
SO, MY FRIEND, LET’S GET GOING AND BE THE SALT OF THE EARTH AS THE LORD MEANT US TO BE!
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