Jesus says in Mat 5:13 that "You are the salt of the earth"
This blog is based on my imagination and conviction on what it means to be a salt of the earth the way that Jesus wants us to be.
We take the reference to be the 'common salt' for ease of understanding, all the more because it is 'common' 😇
How does common salt form? What is it's chemical composition?
Oh yes, this blog would take us to some concepts of inorganic chemistry 😎
HCl + NaOH --> NaCl + H2O
[His Cleansing] + [Nativity in Our Heart] --> Salt + Water
Jesus washed and cleansed us with this perfect blood and when we allow Jesus to be born in our heart(nativity means 'place of birth or origin'), we become the salt of the earth.
Being born with water(water baptism) is a consequence or a by-product of being the salt of the earth!
In order to understand what it means to be a salt, we ought to know the properties of salt. So what are they?
1. It is transparent and colourless
It means to be open and transparent before God, without trying to hide anything from Him (Ps 139:23)
It means being single minded and consecrated towards it, not wanting both world and God (Mat 6:24)
It means being holy (I Pet 1:16)
It means being without sin, without continuing in sin, being blameless before the Lord, being without any colour (1 John 3:9, Jude 24)
2. It is soluble in water
The spiritual meaning is that we need to be susceptible, receptive and sensitive to the presence of the Lord
God's presence is referred to as a mighty water, or a river in many places in the Bible.
eg: Psalm 1:4, where it talks about a tree(person) being planted by the rivers of water, where the tree(person) receives it's nutrition from the water, which is the Word of God, and in John 1 we see that that the "Word was God".
This refers to being obedient and humbling ourselves and letting God to move in us, allowing God to speak to us, allowing God to mould us just like how salt dissolves in water.
-- It also means to 'yield to God'.
3. It melts only at a very high temperature and is non-combustible
This property of salt can be related with the divine character of Love referred to in 1 Cor 13.
Even when there is a 'heated argument' or a 'fiery path', it does not catch fire, rather it just melts meaning that it does not retaliate or rebel.
Not being easily angered in one of the characteristic of Love (1 Cor 13:5)
Genuine forbearance with one another (Col 3:12, Eph 4:2)
Makers of peace even in tough situations (Mat 5:9)
It is about not getting angry and bursting out with irritation
Even when fiery darts are thrown towards us, being non-combustible is to not catch fire but to stay calm and composed, as we put our trust in Him.
4. It is a good conductor of electricity
It is a character of allowing to God to work in us, similar to the solubility in water (Heb 13:21)
It is allowing God to work in and through us, letting God's power flow 'through us' and not giving excuses thereby becoming a bad conductor (Mat 10:20, Phil 2:13)
5. It's presence is not felt but it's absence is
All of us would surely know this truth that we cannot eat food without salt. It would be so bland and tasteless. It does not make a boost in taste like sugar whose presence in that food is known as it is a sweet enhancer, rather it's presence just makes things as tasty as it is but it's absence can be easily noticed.
It is about living a silent life, making an impact for God wherever we are (I Thes 4:11)
It is about adding flavour to the lives of the people around us
Having seen the properties of salt, in parallel the attributes and characteristics that we need to have as the salt of the earth, what is that we need to do or have in order to remain salty or to maintain our saltiness?
1. Ezek 43:24
Our life, our actions and whatever we do must be added with salt.
In the old testament, salt was added to the sacrifice before it was burnt.
It's implication in our life is that, whatever sacrifice we make for God, our worship, our bible reading, our prayer time, participating in ministry, giving tithes and all that we do for God must not be a mere tradition or be done for the sake of doing or formality, rather it must be added with salt so that it is meaningful and wholesome.
2. Col 4:6
Our speech must be seasoned with salt (Eph 4:29)
No empty, unwholesome or useless talks
But words that edify and build others up
Speech that cannot be condemned (Tit 2:8)
3. Ezek 16:4, Ex 30:35
We should be rubbed with salt.
In the old testament, the Persian culture was that new borns were washed with water and rubbed with salt. This was done as a :
Symbol of sanctification
Symbol of dedication to God (Ezek 43:24)
And not to allow the bacteria to grow on the body, as salt has anti-bacterial properties
In a similar manner, we must be sanctified by the blood Jesus, and have a life dedicated for Him and make all efforts with His help to keep sin away from us and not allowing it touch or grow in us.
Here's an important part of the blog. What happens if we lost our saltiness? What's the consequence of not keeping up the saltiness?
As said in Mat 5:13, we become:
Good for nothing(we are Judged)
Thrown out(we are punished)
Trampled by men(we are shamed before men)
This sufficiency or fulfilment of the test of saltiness will be known on the Day of Judgement and it is fast approaching. Let's make all effort to keep the saltiness by following the 3 points above.
One of the major use of salt is that it is used as a preservative.
This is God's calling on every child of His. It is our duty, responsibility and task to pray and intercede for the people around us that God preserves(saves) their lives and that they come to the saving knowledge of Jesus.
You.. are the salt.. of the earth.
Pray and seek His grace to keep up our saltiness and that the Living Lord saves the lives of our friends, unsaved members in the family and our colleagues.
God bless!
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