Oct 1 - Matthew 5:13

Jesus said,

“You are the salt of the earth;

but if salt has lost its taste,

how can its saltiness be restored?

It is no longer good for anything,

but is thrown out and

trampled under foot.”

Matthew 5:13

What do your salt and pepper shakers look like?

We have a set of poodles. The white poodle is salt. The black one is pepper.

That's a funny way to ask: What do you think of when I -- or Jesus -- talk about salt?

Salt has had a long and vital role in world commerce. It's obviously a spice. It's also necessary for life. But according to saltworks.us, "Salt ... in many cultures, symboliz[ed] immutable, incorruptible purity."

Well, if that's the case in, then Jesus is saying, "if salt has lost its 'immutable, incorruptible purity' how can it be restored?"

In this passage -- along with the next passage calling us to be light -- we hear Jesus' call to witness to the world. Indeed, as salt, we are called to flavor the world with the gospel. A similar passage -- 2 Corinthians 2:15 -- calls us to be "the aroma of Christ ... among those who are perishing."

We are to flavor the world with the Gospel. Often it is our words that speak loudest. But mostly it's the aroma of our actions that flavor our testimony most fully. And that why Jesus is challenging to always watch our actions and check our character ... for if salt has lost its 'immutable, incorruptible purity' how can it be restored?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to be salt

(and is working on it with

more salt than pepper hair)