Ben Fourie

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again” Luke 14:34

In our modern times salt is one of the cheapest commodities, but it was not always like that. In ancient times salt was very expensive. Soldiers of the Roman legions were often paid with salt. The word salary is actually derived from the Latin word for salt; salarium.

Jesus was busy talking to his disciples about the demands that will be made on them if they want to be his followers even to the point of saying: “Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples.” All of this was because of the huge crowd that was following Jesus, as we read in verse 25. With his preaching in the eastern part of the Jordan region, Jesus became a celebrity and many people started following him. They had great expectations of a Messiah who would free them from the Roman yoke and some were starting to ask if Jesus might be the one. 

Jesus knew, that amongst this horde of followers, many were there for the wrong reason, like curiosity or a hankering for something sensational to happen. That’s why He told the parable about the man planning to build a tower.

Think about the cost of becoming my follower, Jesus told them. If you want to build a tower you first calculate the cost, otherwise you might run out of money and become a laughing stock. As in  building a tower one should calculate the cost of being a Christian. Being a Christian can be costly. In our modern times people from other religions still find that they are rejected by their families when they convert to Christianity. To become a Christian one needs to be very sure that you will be able to see it through. In Matthew 5 Jesus calls us the salt of the earth. In this sense we are invaluable to his Kingdom working against the great decay brought on by evil, but if we do not persevere, we are like the salt that lost its saltiness, absolutely worthless.

Prayer: Please help me to persevere. Amen