A Salt Covered Road

A Salt Covered Road

Matthew 5:13-16

This week God was speaking to me while I was driving back and forth to Sarnia to attend training sessions for my job. As I travelled I was amazaed to see how much salt we pour out on our roadways to make them safe for winter driving.

It got me to thinking about what Jesus said about salt when He was addressing a large crowd. Jesus told the people that they were the salt of the earth.

That particular phrase is seldom used today by society but occassionally you will hear someone use it to describe a person who was good in some way or some how godly in character.

I find you can hear that phrase at funerals but Jesus meant it for us the living. Salt has been a part of the human experience for as long as we have existed. There are over 14,000 known uses for salt today. But we want to focus on how Jesus would have us use our salt.

In every Jewish home of Jesus time salt was used as a seasoning and as a preservative from everything to fish and meat and chesse and butter. Everyone knew what Jesus was talking about when He used salt as a reference to the people of God.

God has put His Spirit within us and as a result we become the seasoning that helps give the world a flavor that God can stomach.

But Jesus warns us that we must be careful not to lose our saltiness otherwise we will become useless and only good for being thrown on the ground. I dont know about you but metaphorically speaking I would rather be used to make a soup taste batter than to be driven on by a car or trampled upon by winter boots.

Looking at all the salt on the roadways as I drove back and forth to Sarnia made me realize just how many people have lost their saltiness. So much salt all around us and it is only fit for use on the road. If only it could be of use to bring more signifficant value to peoples lives?

What about you? How do you see yourself? Are you seasoning salt or pickling salt or are you the kind that can be thrown onto the road? If Jesus said we are salt and salt is a preservative then just what are we preserving?

What is it in your life that is of such lasting value that it would be fit to preserve it in some way? Is it your character, your example or your teaching? Are you preserving God's word in your life? Are you preserving your family by following Jesus in your daily living? When people are near you do they sense that God is near?

Well they should be sensing that and more if you are a salty Christian. Does your presence at work or at home make the world a little more flavorful? Does the way you treat others make life taste better or do you bring people down with a bitter attitude?

Salt is necessary even essential for every living creature, animals as well as humans all require a certian amount of salt in their diet. Did you know that the saltiest place on earth is in the Holy Land at the Dead Sea? It has ten times more salt than the oceans. People travel from all over the world to float in it and cover themselves with its rich mineral mud.

We need to be covered in salt mud as well so that we can be preserved and kept from rotting in this world full of sin. The Dead Sea is roughly about 20 miles wide and 100 miles long. The depth of the sea varies from nine feet to about 1,200 feet at its deepest point. That is a lot of salt.

How wonderful it would be if Christians were found in the same concentration level as the salt that is found in the Dead Sea.

Speaking of concentration levels did you know that our blood has the same chemical balance of sodium, potassium and calcium as found in the oceans? Docotrs use saline solution in an I.V. to keep patients from dehydrating.

Jesus reminds us that if we remain salty if we keep the Holy Spirit preserved in us we can make the world a better place. We can be the saline solution that keeps the world alive long enough for all those people who are living a bland existence to come to the realization that life is made more flavorful when we give ourselves over to Jesus.

If we fail to put our salt to work for the Kingdom of God we may find ourselves on the side of the road one day. Let us show our Heavenly Father that we are worth our salt and let us love the world around us the same way Jesus did.