Matthew 5. 13 states in the King James version: “13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour , wherewith shall it be salted ? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”Let us dissect this verse and really understand what Jesus is saying here.
1. We are salt. What is salt and what is the function of salt? Salt is a pure crystal composed of sodium chloride. It purifies, preserves, heals and adds flavour to foods. How can this be applied to our Christian walk?
purifies: When you use salt in cleansing, it destroys bacteria, thus purifying the area. We as Christians, when we go into a situation, we can purify the environment just by the Spirit of God within us. His presence makes those who walk in darkness uncomfortable, or at least it should.
preserves: When used as a preservative, it will disallow the meat to rot or decay. We add life to any situation by our presence, words and actions. Where there is life and light, darkness and death flee.
heals: Even though using salt to heal hurts, you know if you have a cut on your hand when salt touches it. When someone was flogged, the soldiers would douse the poor soul in salt to speed up the clotting factor and this would almost force the body to heal. Imagine the pain of that one. Truth hurts, and when you love someone, you speak the truth. Truth is rarely easy to say and even harder to accept, especially when it attacks your pride. Salt is truth, it hurts when applied but makes you better for it.
adds flavour: When you are sprinkling your words with salt, it will always add “flavour” to the conversation. As above, sometimes it hurts, but those in the conversation will always be better off for it if your salt comes from the Word of God.
2. Now, how does salt lose its effectiveness or “savour”? By being exposed to the earth. By being exposed to the elements of the earth. Salt will remain strong and savourful if covered and protected from the destructive forces of the earth such as wind, air and rain. How does this apply to us? The truth of this is fascinating. We lose our effectiveness as “salt”, if we allow ourselves to be exposed to the world. Which means, if we allow ourselves to be part and parcel with the world, we lose that purity and allow impurities to creep in thus reducing our effectiveness. The only way to keep ourselves pure and effective is to guard ourselves from the enticing delicacies of the world that would desensitize us, and blind us to the black and white morality of God. When Jesus went into the “world”, He did so to preach, heal and admonish. Once His work was done He left. It wasn’t entertainment to Him. He went into the world to do His Father’s business only. When you go to see the latest blockbuster at the movies, do you witness to those you are sitting with? When you are working on your tan lines on the beach, are you ministering to the sick? When you go down to Las Vegas for a vacation, are you going there to admonish and rebuke the people there for their sin, while you try your best to win back some of your savings? I’ll leave the answers to those ones to you.
If you are losing your effectiveness, you won’t know it. It happens gradually over time. But however, when you have come to the place where you have lost your “savour”, what does Jesus say will happen next? “It is thenceforth, good for nothing, but to be cast out, and trodden under foot of men.” In other words, once a Christian has come to the place where he has lost his effectiveness and has become desensitized to the subtle deception around him. When he has come to the place where the things that he once found abominable are now acceptable, then he has lost his savour. What are the things that you accept now as a “part of life”? “That’s the way it is, we might as well accept it and live life.” “Live and let live…” Is this what you find yourself saying? If this is you, then unfortunately, unless there is a supernatural miracle of God, you are good for nothing but to be cast out of the house and trampled into the ground and forgotten. Jesus says that you are good for NOTHING(no one, nothing). Sorry, that’s the way it is. it doesn’t mean that God stops loving you, He will always love you dearly, but you are found unusable for the Kingdom. As far as your effectiveness is concerned, you are worthless. God can’t use those who are calloused to the evil around them.
One who works around harsh chemicals and breathes in these chemicals all day for years on end, can never get a job that demands a sensitive sense of smell. Those who have worked in industries where you have incurred hearing damage, can’t be relied upon to hear things that those who haven’t received the same damage would be able to hear. Have you ever been in the same room with a child when he all of the sudden announces that a police car is coming your way? You strain to hear, but you can’t hear what he hears. Why? Because his sense of hearing is still brand new and undamaged by the wear and tear of life. Yours on the other hand is damaged and desensitized. An adult’s hearing is only so sensitive and can only pick up certain things at certain distances. A child can hear stuff miles away. This the best way to compare what Jesus is talking about. Does this sound like you? If so, please humble yourselves and pray. Perhaps, in God’s mercy and love He just might perform a miracle, in your life and cause you to become sensitive again, but it takes a willingness to change your lifestyle and habits. It takes a whole hearted desire to lead a nonconforming life and to emulate Jesus being pure and holy and separate from the world. It takes someone who is bound and determined to clean out his home and life of all offending material, regardless of the persecution that will ensue. It takes a love for Jesus to make Him proud of you. But remember, your heart is deceitful and unchangeably evil in its ways, so don’t wait until “your heart’s in it,” because that will take an eternity. Then you will see changes. But if and when you do, be aware of it, and act on it. Listen to the Holy Spirt’s prodding when you are venturing into a place where He doesn’t want you to be. Act on it and flee from it. Rebel against it, turn from it and get yourself away. The alternative isn’t nice and if you love Jesus as much as you should and say you do to everyone on Sunday morning, then just the fact that He might deem you useless for His work should spurn you on to change.
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