Carina Francke

In Matthew 5:13 Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."

Yesterday we spoke about how you and I are light bearers that work with God to make His Kingdom "visible" on earth by the way we live. Today I shed some light on the metaphor of salt.

In Biblical times salt was regarded as the symbol of faithfulness and constancy, and for this reason was used to confirm treaties. Israel also used salt in their religious practices as a sign of their everlasting relationship with God (Lev 2:13). When Jesus thus proclaims the believer as the salt of the earth He reminds us of the constant covenant relationship between Him and us.  Our "staying salt and being salt" becomes our response to His relationship with us.

Israel's salt came from the southern banks of the Dead Sea (Seph 2:9) and was a rock or fossil variety that could lose its chemical qualities or flavor. Jesus included this knowledge in His proclamation of us as being salt when He said, "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salt again? Have salt in yourselves....." (Mark 9:50) Our purity and flavor are being contaminated when we lose our characteristic faith, and compromise our lifestyle for anything else than the values of God, as it is written in the Word.

Salt preserves from corruption and for this reason the Christian believer can have an influence on the world. Our "peculiarity",  the way we live, how we treat people, do business or just being ambassadors of the one God, fights decay in our own lives and sprinkles salt on a tasteless world.

Prayer: Heavenly Father thank you that You have so much confidence in me that you want to use me as salt in the world where I live. Let me never be saltless in Your mouth. Amen.