Food

Food

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

Matthew 5:13

How do you use salt in your home? Yesterday I sprinkled it into the batter when I was baking Irish soda bread, and later in the day I used it when I prepared lasagna. In the winter my family sometimes sprinkles salt on our front step and walkway to melt the ice.

Salt was an important commodity in Old Testament times. Similar to today, it was used as a seasoning, but it was also used to preserve and purify. The expression covenant of salt meant the same thing as an everlasting covenant, representing faithfulness, dependability, and preservation.

When Jesus taught that his believers are the salt of the earth, he was speaking of these same properties of salt—faithfulness, dependability, and preservation. Just as salt gives flavor to our food, we Christians are God’s salt in the world today. We are distinctive, and we have a unique flavor. If we lose our saltiness, we will lose effectiveness to build up God’s kingdom.

Salt makes food more appetizing when it’s used in appropriate measures. But if you’ve ever had the top of the saltshaker fly off when you were sprinkling salt on your scrambled eggs, you know that too much of a good thing can be less than appetizing. Likewise, as believers we need to realize that being overbearing in our witness is not effective. Since we are supposed to be appetizing, not offensive, we are wise to live lives that are gracious and faithful to God’s truth.

God,

Thank you that you don’t ask us to be salty on our own. May we walk close to you so our lives will be both tasty and tasteful. Amen.