The different characteristics
of salt
It is interesting how Christ used the salt to represent
Christians. It gets more interesting when you look at the physical and chemical
properties of salt and how it relates to our lives. Indeed, salt is among the
best analogies Christ have used to teach us valuable lessons today.
Here are some of the characteristics of salt and how it teaches
us to be Christians.
Salt makes food flavorful
The most common use of salt is to make our food tasty.
Have you ever sip a soup with no salt? I know, it’s terrible,
bland, and boring. Everyone has their preference, but a lot of people would
agree, that food is better with a sprinkle of salt.
In the same manner, as the salt of the
earth, Christians should be the ones who give a flavor to this
distasteful world.
In a world filled with bitterness, it is kind of refreshing that
we have Christians who strive to make a change by doing God’s work.
Our way of life should be pleasant to the “taste buds” of those
people whom we came in contact with. When they see or think about us, they
couldn’t say any evil toward us, but instead, praise our Heavenly Father.
Salt is valuable
In the ancient times, salt is used as a currency. Its production
at that time was legally restricted. Only a few people can have them. Since
salt isn’t that common, it is used as salary to laborers and currency for
trading.
In the past, if you have salt in your home, you are considered
to be wealthy. Eating delicious food was among the luxuries rich people enjoy.
In the same manner, Christians are valuable to God. In Psalms
116:15, we read:
Precious in the sight of
the Lord is the death of his saints.
All throughout the Bible, we see how much God values us. We are
so important to our Heavenly Father that He sacrificed His only begotten Son
for our redemption (John 3:16).
Today, most people don’t value salt anymore
since it has become a common household item. In the same manner that Christians
today are deemed often to be worthless by the society. Thankfully, our worth
isn’t based on how people see us but based on how God loves us.
Salt heals
There’s no secret that going to the beach and taking a dip to
the water speed up healing of wounds. Salt has been seen to heal a lot of skin
problems. A lot of bacteria are sensitive to salt and therefore, could easily
be killed by it.
An interesting story can be read about how Elisha used salt to
heal the water of one of the cities during his day. We read in II Kings
2:19-22:
Then the men of the
city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this
city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad,
and the ground barren.”
And he said, “Bring me
a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he
went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said,
“Thus says the Lord: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall
be no more death or barrenness.’ ” So the water remains healed to this
day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.
This is a classic example of how salt is used in healing, not
just the body, but also other inanimate objects such as water.
So how does this relate to our Christian life?
Jesus Christ told us that we are the salt of the earth. This
means that we are to serve as a healing agent to this hurting, sick,
and dying world. As a matter of fact, we are called to be peacemakers and
help heal broken relationships.
Through our actions and words, we are to help others to recover
from spiritual wounds.
Salt preserves
Another property of salt that it serves as a preserving agent.
Throughout the history, we have seen how salt is used to keep food from
spoiling.
The Bible reveals that we, as Christians, like salt, must help
in keeping this world from corruption and spiritual decay. While of course it
has already been prophesied that man will become more and more corrupt as we
approach the last days, we are still admonished to do our part in preserving
moral standards and keeping God’s ways relevant in today’s society.
Most importantly, we are to keep ourselves
from spiritual rottenness. It is true that we can’t change the world as it is now
heading to destruction, but we can surely control
ourselves. We must preserve ourselves and persevere as we become a
salt to the earth.
Salt makes you thirsty
You might have eaten a bag full of chips. With the saltiness of
that food, I’m sure you would look for water. Salt can dehydrate us. That’s why
it is not recommended for us to drink salt water. Instead of rehydrating us, it
will deplete the fluids in our body and make us thirsty.
As a salt, we must make people thirst for
the spiritual water. Jesus Christ exclaimed during the last
day of the great day of the Feast:
“If anyone thirsts,
let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has
said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38).
We must thirst after Christ as the deer pants
for the water (Psalm 42:1). And it is not just us who should be thirsty, but we
must also cause a thirst in other people through
our examples and influence.
Salt helps in biological
function
Salt is vital for life. In fact, life won’t exist without salt.
Our body can’t produce salt by itself and we must obtain it from an external
source.
Salt plays a major role in our body’s overall fluid balance and
muscle contraction. Salt also indirectly helps in the transportation of oxygen
and nutrients throughout the body.
As Christians, our role in the world is
crucial. Without us, no one will perform the greatest work on the face of the
planet – the preaching of the. Christians are called to deliver the life-giving
message of our Savior.
Salt can
kill
As a little kid, I tried to kill slugs and snails with salt.
Indeed, salt can kill these little creatures. I know it’s a harsh experiment,
but it’s an example of how salt can kill. Now, I’m not advocating that you go
out there and use salt to kill slugs. I just want to use that an example.
Though salt can give life, it can also take life. If you consume
too much salt, it can lead to dehydration and eventually death.
As Christians, we must kill our carnal self. Romans 8:13 tells
us:
“For if you live
according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you
will live.”
The Apostle Paul is simply telling us here that if we are to
live by the Spirit, we must deny the urge to sin and perform the deeds of the
flesh.
When we starve our human nature, we nurture the spirit in us.
During our baptism, we should have already buried our old self
and put the new man. Paul explains this point very well in Ephesians 4:22-24:
That you put off,
concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that
you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true
righteousness and holiness.
As the salt of the earth, we must kill our human nature and
destroy all kinds of evil in our lives.
We are considered to be a
salted sacrifice
In the Old Testament, as part of the sacrificial system of the
Israelites, priests must season their offering with salt. We read:
And every offering of
your grain offering you shall season with salt;
you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking
from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt
(Leviticus 2:13).
In the New Testament, God, through the Apostle Paul, admonishes
us to be a living a sacrifice. We read:
“I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Christ became the sacrifice once and for all by giving up His
life for us (Hebrews 9:28). We are not to offer grain, lamb, bull, or any other
animals. However, we are commanded to offer our bodies to be a living sacrifice
and part of that is to season ourselves with salt.
We must exhibit the different properties and characteristics of
salt mentioned above. As a living sacrifice, we must give flavor to this world.
We must be a healing and preserving agent. We must help other people seek out
God and destroy spiritual rottenness in our lives.
This is what it means to be a salted sacrifice.
Our speech is seasoned with
salt
Words are powerful. It can either break or build people up. Paul
recognizes the power in our words and thus, he implores us in Colossians 4:6:
“Let your speech
always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that
you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Paul is telling us here that our speech should be seasoned with
salt – meaning, our speech should be palatable and wholesome. When people hear
the words that come out of our mouth, it should bring grace to the hearer and
edification to the spirit.
Knowing exactly what to say in every situation can be tough and
tricky. In fact, communication skills, which is a vital component of human
interaction, is difficult to master. But as long as we do our best, ask God for
wisdom, and have the right motivation behind every word we utter, I’m sure that
we will be more effective in seasoning our speech with salt.
Being salted can be painful
Have you tried pouring salt on your open wound? It hurts,
doesn’t it?
In the same manner, we must also be salted and experience pain
to ensure that we grow in the knowledge and faith.
We read in Mark 9:49:
“For everyone will
be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with
salt.”
We will be seasoned with fire. Salt is produced by exposing
‘solution-mined’ brine under the sun. The heating from the sun evaporates the
solution and leaves the salt behind.
No one says that the life of a Christian would be easy. In fact,
Christ, Himself, mentioned that we must go through a lot of hardships before we
can make it to the Kingdom (Mark 8:34).
When salt is mined or gathered together, they
come with impurities and other elements that aren’t needful. In the same
manner, we need to be purified to get rid of
impurities.
Yes, the process can be painful, but it will be worth it. Once
we become a pure salt, we can become a better salt to the earth.
Salt must penetrate to do its
job
To preserve meat, pouring salt is not enough. In most cases,
salt is rubbed repeatedly to the meat to make sure it gets deeper.
As Christians, we are called to be salt. Christ prayed that we
are to remain in the world to serve as salts and light. We are not to hide in
the mountains and live a secluded life.
When you cook food, you don’t simply sprinkle salt in one place.
As much as possible, you want salt to be evenly distributed. We can only make
an impact in other people’s lives by establishing a deeper and personal
connection with them.
Don’t lose your flavor
Jesus Christ gave a solemn warning to Christians to never lose
their saltiness. We read in the latter part of Matthew 5:13:
“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.”
If you lose your flavor as a salt – meaning, you lost the
characteristics of salt mentioned above – then, you will have lost the ability
to serve your main purpose.
In the olden times, when salt is deemed to be useless, it is
scattered in the field to kill vegetation. It is also a common substance that
is used to harden pathways and roads.
When Christ said that if the salt has lost its
flavor and should be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men, His audience knew very well what He exactly mean by that statement.
As Christians, we must take this warning seriously. For Christ,
“Salt is good” (Mark 9:50). However, if you lose your flavor, you have lost
your healing and preserving property, you won’t do any good.
Christ even indicates that you can’t restore your saltiness by
yourself. It is by coming back to Christ and restoring your relationship with
Him that you will again produce the salt in your life.
Go and be a salt to the world
Now that you have a deeper understanding of
what Matthew 5:13 means, then you should now be more effective in becoming a
salt to the earth. While the task is difficult and we will be confronted with a
lot of hardships along the way, we know that it will all be
worth it.
Let’s go out there and become the salt of the earth!
(How about you? How do you explain Matthew
5:13? Do you have anything to add to this blog? If yes, feel free to drop a
comment below!)
