Following the path of least resistance is what makes both men and rivers crooked. Author unknown
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)
Jesus said we are the spiritual salt of the earth. We as believers are the flavoring and spice in a bland world that goes on day after day in its own direction. I have noticed that life goes on regardless of how things may appear. People come and go, ideas come and go, new inventions come and go, fads come and go, styles come and go, diets come and go, medicines come and go, ways of exercise come and go, and what today we think of as being in tomorrow is out. Life seems to be a big surface made up of the here and now with ripples caused by people and things that go on until they eventually subside or are started again as new somewhere else. Nothing material last forever. I remember when I bought a piece of property twenty years ago, at that time, I thought that this is always going to be just like the way it is now. How wrong I was, land is constantly changing. Old trees die, and new trees come up in their place. Soil will wash away exposing new rocks and old rocks will gather soil and vegetation around then be hid from sight. Even life itself changes. Twenty years ago there were no armadillos in southern Missouri, today they are as common as rabbits. Fifty years ago on the farm where I live, I never saw a deer. Today they are thick. Ten years ago bald eagles were very rare in this part of the state. Today they are still rare, but we have sightings several times a year, with more each year than the year before. The old saying, The only thing constant is change, is very true indeed. As I study the words of Jesus today I ponder on the fact that we are considered the salt of the earth, and that we as salt are good, but that we also may lose our saltiness. To me this means that once youve got it spiritually, doesnt mean that you will always have it. Jesus said the salt can lose its saltiness. How can salt lose it saltiness? Over exposure and being diluted are two ways that come to mind. Too much salt in one place is not good. If believers only gather together and never venture away from each other they are too salty even for their own good. Then again, one grain of salt in a gallon of water has no affect, so balance is the key to being the spice in life. A few years ago I received a spice rack as a gift, I thought that this will surely improve my home cooking. How wrong I was, it took several failed attempts at adding too much quantity and variety of spices to learn that a little evenly distributed has a better taste than too much or too many spices. To be evenly distributed and added sparingly to taste brings about the best flavor. And so it is as believers, if we gather too much and bombard non-believers with much doctrine and demands, they will run from the effects of too much salt. Be gentle, season to taste, salt is an acquired taste and too much only repels. God is teaching me to be sensitive to my spiritual taste buds, to be aware of when too much salt is being added. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself JRE
If you understand and accept the teachings of Jesus; and if you make every effort to practice them in every department of your own daily life; if you seek systematically to destroy in yourself everything which you know should not be there, things such as selfishness, pride, vanity, sensuality, self-righteousness, jealousy, self-pity, resentment, condemnation, and so forth, not feeding or nourishing them by giving in to them, but starving them to death by refusing them expression; if you extend the right thought loyally to every person or thing within your ken, especially to the people or things you dislike; then you are worthy to be called the salt of the earth.
EMMET FOX
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)
Jesus said we are the spiritual salt of the earth. We as believers are the flavoring and spice in a bland world that goes on day after day in its own direction. I have noticed that life goes on regardless of how things may appear. People come and go, ideas come and go, new inventions come and go, fads come and go, styles come and go, diets come and go, medicines come and go, ways of exercise come and go, and what today we think of as being in tomorrow is out. Life seems to be a big surface made up of the here and now with ripples caused by people and things that go on until they eventually subside or are started again as new somewhere else. Nothing material last forever. I remember when I bought a piece of property twenty years ago, at that time, I thought that this is always going to be just like the way it is now. How wrong I was, land is constantly changing. Old trees die, and new trees come up in their place. Soil will wash away exposing new rocks and old rocks will gather soil and vegetation around then be hid from sight. Even life itself changes. Twenty years ago there were no armadillos in southern Missouri, today they are as common as rabbits. Fifty years ago on the farm where I live, I never saw a deer. Today they are thick. Ten years ago bald eagles were very rare in this part of the state. Today they are still rare, but we have sightings several times a year, with more each year than the year before. The old saying, The only thing constant is change, is very true indeed. As I study the words of Jesus today I ponder on the fact that we are considered the salt of the earth, and that we as salt are good, but that we also may lose our saltiness. To me this means that once youve got it spiritually, doesnt mean that you will always have it. Jesus said the salt can lose its saltiness. How can salt lose it saltiness? Over exposure and being diluted are two ways that come to mind. Too much salt in one place is not good. If believers only gather together and never venture away from each other they are too salty even for their own good. Then again, one grain of salt in a gallon of water has no affect, so balance is the key to being the spice in life. A few years ago I received a spice rack as a gift, I thought that this will surely improve my home cooking. How wrong I was, it took several failed attempts at adding too much quantity and variety of spices to learn that a little evenly distributed has a better taste than too much or too many spices. To be evenly distributed and added sparingly to taste brings about the best flavor. And so it is as believers, if we gather too much and bombard non-believers with much doctrine and demands, they will run from the effects of too much salt. Be gentle, season to taste, salt is an acquired taste and too much only repels. God is teaching me to be sensitive to my spiritual taste buds, to be aware of when too much salt is being added. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself JRE
If you understand and accept the teachings of Jesus; and if you make every effort to practice them in every department of your own daily life; if you seek systematically to destroy in yourself everything which you know should not be there, things such as selfishness, pride, vanity, sensuality, self-righteousness, jealousy, self-pity, resentment, condemnation, and so forth, not feeding or nourishing them by giving in to them, but starving them to death by refusing them expression; if you extend the right thought loyally to every person or thing within your ken, especially to the people or things you dislike; then you are worthy to be called the salt of the earth.
EMMET FOX
