The Most Important Ingredient

You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

Bending low, I pulled my second-ever loaf of sourdough bread out of the oven. It looked perfect with its lightly toasted exterior and adorable heart expertly carved (by me!) into the rustic crust.

“Hey Aaron, I’m officially a bread-baking diva!” I aimed my excited shout toward the stairs, hoping my hubby would come running up. I was inordinately excited by my immediate success in this new adventure, especially because I’d been too intimidated to try bread baking for more than a decade, convinced it was too hard.

“Cut it open, let’s see how it tastes!” Aaron’s voice carried up the stairs as he joined me in the kitchen, grabbing the bread knife even as he admired my masterpiece. After a quick swipe of butter, we took a first, simultaneous bite. As we chewed, our faces morphed from excited into a contemplative puzzlement; something wasn’t quite right.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” I wailed. “I forgot to add the salt!” The realization hit hard. And with my devastated proclamation, Aaron’s face went from puzzled to a polite frown as the taste mystery was solved. It took me until just before bedtime to toss my beautiful loaf, acknowledging that there was no saving it. I’d done all the big, hard things perfectly right, and yet it was ruined by my failure to add a tiny amount of seasoning.

It was a painful lesson, but one that has reverberated in my spirit. If I live a “good” life but am not salty, what is the point? If I do all the hard work of living lovely but don’t point others toward Jesus, careful to give God the glory, am I any better than beautiful, unsalted bread?

That loaf has become a poignant reminder that good works, apart from God, don’t have eternal value. God’s presence and my acknowledgment of him is the key, salty ingredient in my calling here on earth. Letting others know why I strive to live faithfully is my spiritual salt. I’ve never been so grateful for a cooking disaster (and I’ve had more than my fair share) as for my saltless bread.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Prayerfully ask God if there are areas in which you’ve lost spiritual saltiness. Thank him for his redemptive work in you.