Shake Your Salt!

“Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” Mark 9:50

If you've been around the church block a few times you've more than likely heard a sermon or lesson on being the “salt of the earth”. The vast majority of messages revolve around salt as being the key element to adding flavor and savor to what we eat and drink. They go on to give a variety of ways that can tie into Christian living and how, we as Children of God add flavor and savor to the lives around us. There is so much more to the power of salt. For this article, I want to look at some other attributes of salt and how they can be applied to our daily lives as Christians.

One of the very first antibacterial healing agents was salt. Salt slows the spread and growth of bacteria. The saying, “stings like salt in open wounds” comes from the fact that in the early days, they actually did just that! They would literally rub or pour salt into open wounds to slow down decay and the spread of bacteria. It would aid in the healing process. Hot, tired, sore feet are often soaked in a type of large crystal salt called Epsom salt. The bath industry has made a fortune with the sale of scented bath salt products. Something about soaking your sore, achy body in warm salt water has a way of revitalizing our bodies and giving us comfort.

Look around at the people around you. Do you see souls sick with the decaying bacteria of sin? How many hurt, aching, sore souls do you see that life has battered and worn down? As Christians, if we are being the Salt as God has called us to be, then we should be supplying first aid to those souls around us. We should be the breath of fresh air that revitalizes the sick, worn and tired. We should be willing to pour our self out to the souls lost and dying with the hope and healing of God. It is our job to tell them that by the stripes of Jesus Christ who died for them, their pain, their wounds can be healed. We can slow down the decay of sin and the bacteria Satan loves to spread with the salt God has given us and called us to be.

Salt is a preservative. Read just about any label on just about anything in the store and your going to see it contains sodium. Salt is widely used to preserve the shelf life of just about all consumable products. It prolongs life and prevents it from going bad.

Do you see any souls around you in your life that seems to be in danger of going bad? Is anyone on the brink of giving up? Are they fighting what might be their last battle and is Satan giving them a beating? Pour yourself around them. Get between them and the enemy and preserve them until help comes! Direct them back to the straight and narrow path and give them encouragement to keep going. Feed them with scripture (man does not live by bread alone), pray for them. Reach out and lend a helping hand with whatever they may be going through. Preserve them. Ask God to open your eyes and show you those around you that need the salt you have and to help you be the salt shaker of life.

What has the power to eat through metal, instantly melt ice on contact and destroy concrete? If you guessed salt, you are correct! Salt is abrasive and over time it wears down what is left exposed to it. In the winter cities spread salt on highways and byways to melt ice and help provide traction for vehicles. However, if the owners of the vehicles do not periodically wash the salt from under their vehicles, the salt corrodes the metal and will cause it to rust, and eventually that will eat holes right through the metal. Salt spread on the concrete roadways will diminish the strength and lead to more frequent pot holes.

As the salt God has called us to be, as Christians, it is our responsibility to reach out to the cold, hard hearts and to eat through the walls, chains, barriers and prison bars being used to hold these souls captive. Do you see anyone on a slick, icy patch and they are slipping, sliding and loosing control? It doesn't take much salt to melt that ice and give them some traction to grip so they can get their situation back under control.

“Let your speech be always with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6

Have you ever eaten something that had way to much salt on it? It is just as bad as no salt at all. Salt is one of those things that are useful and can make huge changes when applied in the right amounts. However, a little salt goes a long way. A tiny pinch can change an entire pot. Therefore, it is highly important we read our Bibles very carefully, we listen to our Father very closely and we learn how to measure out the salt we pour out. As with anything, the more you practice giving out your salt, the better at it you will become. So get out there and shake that salt!