#MirrorMirror: Be Salty

"You are the salt of the Earth.  But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?  Can you make it salty again?  It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless."

Matthew 5:13

  

When you hear, "She's salty." nowadays it probably means that something is bothering that person.  It usually has a bad connotation.  There is a certain attitude associated with being salty.  If you are being salty, you are probably snapping at people and being a bit rude.  But, Matthew was referring to a deeper meaning for our lives than just our current attitudes.


Salt and I are very well acquainted.  I enjoy a salty snack like no other.  I would rather have a salty snack than chocolate any day of the week.  Even when I have a sweet snack, I have to have a little salty with it "cut the sweet," as my mama always says.  That's why peanut M&Ms are our favorite.  I enjoy slat so much I had to be restricted from it after the birth of my daughter. 

But, salt is an amazing thing.  It can clean kettles and keep your windshield from freezing. Salt can even deodorize your shoes and draw the toxins out of your feet with a nice long soak.  The Bible says that I'm the salt of the Earth.  What does that even mean, and how do I do it?  Well, for starters salt is flavorful.  We should not be dull.  However, I believe that Matthew was going for something a little deeper than livening up our Church socials. 

In the time that Matthew would have written this and during the Old Testament, salt would have had a lot of value.  It was used for seasoning food, preserving food (since the fridge was not around quite yet), and for trading.  it had great value, but only if it was actually salty, only if it had flavor.

That is Matthew's message to us.  We are salty because we belong to God.  He has given us flavor, or value.  But, we have to maintain that value by staying in constant connection with Him.  We have to continue to gain flavor, and share that flavor, or what use are we?  It's not enough for salt to just be salty, it already is that. 

Salt only has value when it gets used.  Just sitting in the jar, doing nothing, the slat is being wasted.  We are being wasted if we keep our faith to ourselves  Our faith, like the salt of Matthew's time, has to be spread out for different uses to be of value. 

We must share with the lady that checks out our groceries, the student that drives us absolutely crazy, the coworker that is going about that promotion the wrong way, and those people right in our own families that may not see the truth.  So, let's be salty!  Not the new definition that would have a chip on our shoulders and our unreasonable feelings on display for all to see.  No, we are to be flavorful and valuable.  If we are God's salt, let's get out there and do some cleaning, preserving and detoxing in His awesome name. 

Go Be Salty!