Are You Salty? Do You Have the Qualities of Salt? Part 2 of 2
Be Salt and Light
“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. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT)
“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.” Mark 9:50 (NLT)
In Part 1 of this post, we talked about being salt and light in our everyday surroundings. We discussed a few of the qualities of salt and how we could display some of those same qualities in our lives. I’d like to pick back up this week with some more qualities of salt that we should model.
In the previous post we discussed the first five qualities, this week we’ll discuss the last five and how they serve as an analogy for how we should act:
Salt…
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- Makes you thirsty.
- Adds seasoning, gives things flavor, and makes things taste good.
- Preserves.
- Has the power to change the environment around it.
- Serves as an electrolyte in our bodies.
- Mixes in and interacts with its environment.
- Promotes healing.
- Is sloughing or exfoliating.
- Stings but also soothes.
- Acts as a fertilizer to make things grow.
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Value of salt
I actually learned something new when studying salt. I knew salt was an extremely valuable commodity in ancient times, but I guess I just didn’t realize how much. In fact, I learned that Roman soldiers even used to be paid in salt at times. Apparently, that’s where the term “worth his salt” came from. The word “salary” is even rooted from salt. In the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law required that all offerings presented by the Israelites should contain salt (Lev. 2:13). Many theologians say this was to symbolize purification and an enduring covenant (salt purifies and makes things last).
Since salt holds such value in history, that same value should still hold true today—especially in relation to how we should be like salt. Let’s take a look at some more qualities of salt…
