Don’t Lose Your Salt

Matthew 5:13

¹³ “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.

https://seasalt.com/salt-101/about-salt/history-of-salt

You know that yard on the block that looks immaculate, like someone spends all day, every day keeping it up? You look at your yard and shrug your shoulders because your lawn does not look like that. Yard envy, we call it. The same sun and rain beat down on your neighbor’s yard, and your lawn just does not cut it. What is that guy using and putting on his lawn that makes it look so good?

I was at church the other night, and as the preacher was speaking about Matthew 5:13 and how salt makes things taste better, I was spurred to dive deeper into what salt was used for and why it was so important. Why did Jesus use salt as a metaphor to describe His followers? I use salt on my food, we all do, but after reading about salt, the metaphor makes much more sense. Not only did salt make things taste better, it also preserved food.

Settlers used to pack a layer of salt to preserve meat longer, since they had no refrigerators. Salt was used to heal wounds. Salt was a big deal in the trade routes. During wartime, protecting salt was a military must. European countries made fortunes trading salt. To say the least, salt was not just something you put on your food; it was part of everyday life, and without it, life became harder.

So when Jesus compares us to being the salt of the earth, it was much more than just something you put on your food to make it taste better. He was literally telling His disciples that following Him and spreading the good news of the gospel was life essential.

We look at salt today and use it to make our food taste better, for the most part. For the Hebrews, when Jesus was alive, salt was a major part of life. When salt lost its savor, it was thrown out on the ground and became part of the dirt, no longer useful at all. You could say we are like salt. We all look the same, bleed the same red blood, and want what is good in life, so in that respect, what separates us from everyone else? When you accepted Christ, and He changed your heart and your life, you became salty. The savor of the salt was added. The very reason salt was so important for life back then is now describing you and Christ. Your testimony about what Christ did for you and spreading the gospel are now life-altering things.

The ancient world could not have moved forward without salt; it was a defining factor behind the scenes for many areas of life. Christ in you is a defining factor in your life. It not only preserves you, but because you have Christ, life changes. You are no longer just like everyone else, kind of like the dirt. No, you are something worth fighting for, something worth obtaining, something needed. We are the salt of the earth. Click on the article link above to dive deeper into salt back then.

Prayer: Father, I pray that I will never neglect the saltiness You have placed in my life. I pray that I honor what You did for us on the cross and completely understand how You gave us life when we accepted You as our Savior. I pray that we would be salt and light to the world around us. In Jesus’ name, amen.