Earlier this year, my father in law told us he was experiencing tightness in his chest and pain in his arm every time he went up the stairs. We immediately took him to the hospital where they discovered he had blocked arteries. They put in some stents and then handed us a list for a new diet he needed to abide by. One of the things he was no longer allowed to have was salt, so I bought some sodium free salt. When we got home and tried to cook with it, we noticed a huge flavor difference. Not only did it not taste like salt, it tasted horrible to us. We threw it away with the rest of the salt.
It reminded me of Matthew 5:13 where Jesus said, “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage” (MSG). I finally understood that scripture. Salt without its flavor was repulsive and we wanted nothing to do with it. Now translate that to our lives. If we claim to be salt, but our lives lack the flavor that points people to God, we’re no different than sodium free salt. Right label, wrong taste.
One of the things salt does besides give food flavor is that it makes you thirsty. Our lives should make people thirsty for God. When we live and love the way we’re supposed to, it will make people want more of what you have. We can’t keep our salt put away in the cabinet either. We must learn to share God’s love into all the bland places we go. Keeping God’s love away from the people who need it most is like keeping the salt in the cabinet but never using it. We’re not here to just enhance seasoned food. We’re to bring out God’s flavoring where ever we go.
Photo by Jason Tuinstra on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 