This year the focus in our 4-min devotions is on the teaching given by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters 5 – 7.

After the short “Blessed are…” phrases at the beginning of the sermon, often called the Beatitudes, Jesus said:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. (Matthew 5:13)

In the Old Testament, Job asked the question. “Can flavourless food be eaten without salt?”[1]. The answer, of course, is yes, but it would taste a lot better with salt and other seasonings. In New Testament days, salt was a preservative (keeping meat fresh before the days of coolers or fridges) and a condiment, adding to the flavour of a meal.

As many commentators note, Christians have the call and authority to bring God’s life to those around them and we have the power to bring positive change to our communities. To be a preservative of the faith and to add the flavour of God to a lost world. Writer, Ken Mongomery says that we, as the salt of the earth, “participate in the flavour of the redemptive kingdom of heaven”[2].

In other words, by being salt in this world we give people a taste of Heaven. By sharing God’s love and truth to those in our schools and streets, workplaces, and neighbourhoods, we crack open the door for the lost to glimpse a view of the eternal Father who is offering His love to them. Our saltiness has the ability to reveal a new world accessible to all: God’s powerful story of love, sacrifice and redemption.

Perhaps a good question to ask today is: “what do I need to do to be salt (that is, the life and flavour of God) to people in my street, my study group, my family, my workplace, my community?”

Jesus warned of salt losing its saltiness. Salt mixed with other substances might become diluted. Thrown on an icy road, it will be less effective or less noticeable in a bowl of soup.

Our lives, once purified by the saving power of faith in Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross, may become less effective on the world around us if mixed with the values we were once rescued from. A lack of purity makes us bland and tasteless.

No wonder it would be “thrown out and trampled underfoot”. The last thing the world needs is Christians who claim to be followers of Jesus (that is, salt – preservers of the faith, spreading the life, truth and love of God), but who mix their lives with compromise. They would rightly be rejected – thrown out – by those searching for truth. Those looking for faith are looking for something that is real and pure. Faith that is salty.

[1] Job 6: 6 NJKV

[2] From Themelios Theological Journal, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/about/