Salt of the Earth
Salt of the Earth. We continue our series on the Words of Christ with a large section of Matthew (chapters 5-7), known as the Sermon on the Mount.
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“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how
shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out
and trampled underfoot by men.
Matthew 5:13, NKJV
Salt of the Earth
What was Jesus implying when He said we are the salt of the earth? What is the purpose of salt? Salt has two purposes--first, is is a seasoning which enhances the flavor of food, More importantly, it is also used as a preservative. I always think of pickles, when I think of salt as being a preservative. What would pickles be without salt?
As believers, we have a purpose in this life, and it is not necessarily
one in which we can safely lie dormant all of our days. Just as salt is
an irritant to an open wound, the true believer is a constant irritant
to an unbeliever. Why is that?
This world is dominated by sin; those who hate the Lord, do not want to
be told that they are sinners. As a matter of fact, one of the great
tenants of the New Word religion is that there is no sin. If something
is pleasing or pleasurable to you, then it is not sin. It follows
closely behind the "I'm OK; you're OK" mentality of this world's
culture.
What happens, however, when we open the Word of God? Romans 3 tells us
that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That is the
real problem, is it not? It is not how we appear in comparison to the
person standing next to us, but rather, how do we appear compared to a
righteous and holy God! Sin has permanently blocked us from heaven's
doors--man, left to himself, has no standing before God.
Christ, however, opened the door and provided a means for us to come to
God--not through our own righteousness, but through the righteous blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, our very existence is like salt in an open
wound to those of the world.
What if we just choose to not say anything. We can live for Christ
without bothering those of the world, can we not? No! To do so, is to be
salt that has lost its flavor--it is then good for nothing! We, as
believers, have a God-ordained job to do. We are to present Christ to a
lost world, that they, too, might come to know our wonderful Lord and
Savior.
Has the church been effective in its mission? Absolutely! From its
fledgling beginning, after the resurrection of Christ, God's church has
grown so that there is hardly a country where God's Word is not
proclaimed.
Let us continue God's calling to proclaim His message to all the world.
Christ came to save the lost, and we are here to proclaim the hope of
our calling in Him.
Go then, and be salt!
Devotional Reflections from the Bible
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