by Phil Sanders

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men” (Matt. 5:13).

The salt used in Palestine came mostly from the Dead Sea, which is also sometimes called the Salt Sea (Gen. 14:3). One can find vast salt deposits around the edges of this body of water, which is 1,290 feet below sea level. Water that flows in has no place to go. The extreme heat in the area causes the water to evaporate and leave its deposits there. The evaporation of one cubic mile of sea water would leave approximately 140 million tons of salts, most of which would be sodium chloride, or common salt.

Often the salt around this sea would get polluted by winds or people and animals walking on the surface of the salt. Polluted salt, then, was dug up with the purer kinds and sold in the markets. A customer getting polluted salt could do nothing with it except to throw it out. It was no good. It could not do what it was intended to do.

Salt blesses foods by seasoning them. It brings out the taste in food. It also cleanses and preserves some foods. Where would country ham be without salt? How potent are you in your Christian life?

Does anyone know you are a Christian? Some people are acquainted for years and yet do not know the other is a Christian.

Does your life proclaim that the Lord matters to you? Can people see Christ living in you by the way you act, you dress, and you talk?

Does anyone want the Christian life you have? If others look at the way you live, would they want the faith, joy and love you have? Does any imitate you?

Do you have a light people need? If people you know needed spiritual help, would they come to you for it?

You are the salt of the earth! Be salty!