SALT TO THE WORLD -Floyd Kaiser (Guest article from The Southwesterner) It may well be that the single greatest challenge of Christian living is summed up in one word: Salt. Jesus said, Ye are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). My first experience with salt, other than what I put on my food, came as a youngster whose job was to salt calf hides. On the farm, we butchered our own calves for personal consumption and to sell. One of the byproducts of such events was the hide that could be sold for a nice price. However, we couldnt make a trip to town to sell a single hide as it came into our possession. Rather, we saved them until we had a truckload. Without refrigeration, how was this done? With salt. Lots and lots of salt. It was my job to spread the hide on the ground with the raw side up. I would pour a pile of salt in the middle of the hide and, while on my hands and knees, I would spread the salt so as to cover every square inch. This was the cardinal rule of my job: No part of the hide could be left untouched by salt. Why? Because any part, even the smallest that was left unsalted would spoil before we could get it to market. In other words, salt preserved the hides. Without salt corruption, would spread unchecked. Now we know a little more about this challenge Jesus applies to us, to be the salt of the earth. As salt preserves, so do lives dedicated to the glory of the Savior. Its witnessed all the time in the neighborhoods of humanity. Christians live out the character of the Lord they follow, and others are affected, preserved, if you will, by their influence. As the lost and distressed were drawn to the feet of Jesus in the first century, even so today, they are attracted to the grace-filled lives of His disciples. Jesus warns us, however, about salt losing its taste or its saltiness. He said, but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under the foot by men. In our time, we cannot appreciate the meaning of Jesus metaphor because we are not accustomed to salt losing its saltiness. In biblical times, it was different. Back then, salt was impure, polluted with organic and earthy substances. Therefore, it was not uncommon for a jar of salt to lose its unique properties, its taste and ability to preserve. What Jesus says is that salt that is no longer salty is simply dirt. It becomes of no more value than the substance that makes up a footpath. When it does, then it should be treated as dirt, cast out and trampled under foot by men. The applications are: AS CHRISTIANS WE ARE UNIQUE: As there is no other substance with the unique features of salt, so it is only Christians that are truly unique because only Christians are given the privilege to live a higher standard than the rest of mankind. We alone are chosen to be holy (see Ephesians 1:4). We are more careful in speech (James 1:26). We are more loving (Matthew 5:43). No one is like us. Of all men, only Christians were foreknown, predestined, called and justified (Romans 8:29-30). THE WORLD IS PRESERVED THROUGH US: No doubt, we know that Jesus died for the sins of mankind and that His sacrifice is one we will never replace by our own efforts. The world, thus, being preserved by us is not to suggest that we take the place of what only God could do. However, without the witness of our lives and the words of life we bring in the world, no one is going to know. Without our lives of salt, no one will ask us to give an account of the hope that is in us (see I Peter 3:15). CHRISTIANS MUST CHOOSE TO KEEP THEIR SALTINESS: It is not the plan of God that He forces us to do anything. If God forced us to be salt, then why command it? With every command there is implied a choice. As we walk about in the world, we are constantly urged by our environment to become like the world, to become common dirt, of no use to the Lord. However, the call of God is to become godly different in the world and stand apart. You are the salt of the earth. In us alone is the preservative of men.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 04:46:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015