The Qualities Of Salt

Most of us only use salt for a couple of things like seasoning our food. Did you know it has over 14,000 uses? It’s used in the manufacturing of computers, shoes and clothes. In the time of Christ, it was used as currency for the Roman soldiers. The word soldier comes from the Latin “sal dare” which means “to give salt to”. Your salary is derived from it to. When Jesus talked about sitting at the head of the table, he was referring to your position at the table in relation to the salt. It’s important that we understand the importance of salt, because it’s referred to in many ways in Scripture, and we typically only apply one or two uses to it. We can miss a lot of context that way.

In Matthew 5, Jesus was giving what we refer to as the “Sermon on the Mount”. In verse 13 He said, “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless” (NLT). You are the salt of the earth. You are valuable and should add value to the conversations you’re having. You bring the flavors of God to the people around you. If you’re not, your salt doesn’t have flavor and loses its value. Salt was mined in those days instead of being manufactured. It could have other minerals or impurities that caused it to lose its flavor or not have any. The same can be true of sin and how we live out our faith. Does your life make people want to know Jesus?

In Mark 9:50 Jesus used salt in reference to us again. He said, “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.” You must have the qualities of salt in your life and in the right balance. When you do, there are thousands of ways God can use you. He wants this world to know Him, and we are the main conduit for that. He wants us to preserve the peace between ourselves. He wants to create things through us too, but we have to make sure the impurities in our lives aren’t preventing us from those uses. Let us lay aside those impurities that hold us back, as Hebrews 12 tell us, and live out the qualities God lays out for us in His Word.

Photo by Jason Tuinstra on Unsplash