Tuesday, August 19, 2014

August 20, 2014

"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." Matthew 5:13

In my study this week I found some helpful insights into the significance of Jesus' reference to His followers as "salt of the earth".

"Jesus says to these people “You are the salt of the earth.” Notice carefully that this is an "indicative" rather than an "imperative" statement. Jesus does not say, “Be salt!” or “You must be salt,” or “You should be salt,” or “It would be nice for you to be salt.” No, if you are the “blessed” ones mentioned in verses 3-10, if you are truly my disciples, then by that very definition you are the salt of the earth."
"In other words, you and I, if we truly claim to be followers of Jesus, cannot excuse ourselves from being who we by definition are. We cannot say, “Thanks, but no thanks.” We cannot say that we don’t mind to be a follower of Jesus but that we refuse to be salt.  You are either a follower of Jesus or you are not a follower. And if you are a follower of Jesus, then salt is what you are, whether you asked for it or not, whether you like it or not."

Let me ask you, "Are you a salty Christian?"

"Did you know that salt is a miracle?  It’s composed of two poisons:  chloride and sodium.  If you ingest either by itself, you’ll die.  But put them together and you have common, ordinary salt, and that which used to bring death somehow comes together to bring life, and that’s a miracle!

So it is with the Christian life, poisoned by sin, with death looming in the shadows, but it’s confronted by the grace of God in His death, and those two negatives merge to form a positive redemption!"

“It took a miracle to put the stars in place;
It took a miracle to hang the world in space.
But when He saved my soul,
Cleansed and made me whole,


It took a miracle of love and grace!”

Your saltiness as a Christian, like the saltiness of salt, is produced by the spiritual reaction of His grace interacting with your trust. Your "taste" is a result of your trust!

You will loose your saltiness when you fail to trust!

Will you trust Him to make you a "salty saint" today?