Sprinkle Salt
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matt. 5:13 ESV)
I grew up in the south. The southern part of New Jersey, that is. Many of us from that area refer to it as South Jersey because it really should be two separate states. When people think of New Jersey, they think of the Jersey Shore TV show or how it is a suburb of NYC. While both of those are things to associate with New Jersey, they don’t reflect the motto on New Jersey’s license plates: The Garden State.
While I wasn’t raised on a farm, I grew up surrounded by fruit and vegetable farms. You cannot beat Jersey corn, or as I’m told, a Jersey tomato, but I only eat those in salsa form. The freshness and flavor of locally grown fruit and vegetables cannot be beaten.
One of my favorites as a child was cantaloupe. My mom would get a cantaloupe and cut it into slices, and we would sprinkle salt on it, then use a spoon to peel a sliver off and eat it. After the top layer was removed, we would sprinkle a little more salt and repeat the process. I never saw cantaloupe cut up in cubes until I was older and saw it on a fruit tray. I really didn’t know how to process how it looked.
Recently, a conversation came up at my dinner table with my husband and kids about how I was raised to eat cantaloupe. Needless to say, they were appalled. The thought of putting salt on fruit was detestable to them. Since we live in the Midwest, we eat our cantaloupe cubed from the grocery store.
I decided I would give them a firsthand experience. I purchased a cantaloupe (unfortunately, not from a roadside stand as I would in Jersey), sliced it up, and sprinkled salt on top of it. I wish I could have recorded the reaction on my husband’s face. Priceless. My husband, who was a skeptic, was now a believer. The salt transformed his belief!
I now have a nice wood salt cellar on the side of my stove and love using it to salt food as I am cooking or sprinkle on anything that might need a little salt. I love the ease of having the salt on my counter and grabbing a pinch whenever I need it.
Salt can help enhance the flavor of certain foods, and it also helps preserve them. As Christians, we are called to be the salt of the earth.
How can we be salt? We need to enhance and preserve!
As Christians, we need to enhance the world around us. We need to be encouragers, helpers, and givers. We need to share the gift of salvation with a hurting world. We need to sprinkle salt and love others as Jesus has called us to.
We also need to preserve what God has blessed us with. First and foremost, in the post-Christian world, we need to stand firm in our beliefs and in the infallible Word of God. I really like how The Message translates Matthew 5:13:
Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
Dear heavenly Father, you have called us to be the salt of the earth. Help us to sprinkle the salt of your love to others each and every day. Give us wisdom on how we can enhance the world around us and give us strength to stand firm in preserving the word of God. May all we do and say give you glory. In the powerful and precious name of Jesus, Amen.
Scripture for Reflection
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. (Luke 14:34-35 NIV)
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Col. 4:6 NIV)
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” (Mark 9:50 NIV)
Reach for More
Sprinkle salt! Whatever situations or season of life you are in, we are called to be the salt of the earth. We need to enhance the lives of those around us and we need to preserve what God has created and his word! Who can you encourage or what do you need to stand firm on? Don’t lose your saltiness! And sprinkle some salt on your cantaloupe; your tastebuds will thank you.
is living the full life with her husband, Jeff, four kids, and a dog in Metro Detroit. Heather enjoys reading, writing, coffee-ing, and serving in youth ministry. She was born a Jersey girl and feels most at home on a beach. She is the host of the monthly link-up, Share Four Somethings. You can join Heather on the journey to living the full life at www.heathergerwing.com.
Photograph © Josh Massey, used with permission
