Summer break is over , and I’m back at work for my school job. This transition back to a structured day has both its good and bad points.
A regular routine always gets me back on track with my personal study and quiet time. I’m usually more efficient and organized. I struggle, though, with early starts to the day (if only the world would start after 8am please) and having enough time and energy to get it all done- homework, laundry, cooking and cleaning. You know how it goes.
What idea that has helped me more than any in getting back to a new school year is to realize the amazing opportunity I have to live out my faith with the children and women that surround me every day. In other words, I’ve been called to be the salt.
“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. Matt 5:13
Matthew 5:13 calls us to be the salt of the earth, so I’ve been thinking about the quality of my salt. In her book, Finding the Way, my friend, Lori Cline, discovered all the effective uses for salt. “If salt becomes contaminated and cannot serve its purpose, it needs to be thrown out.” She goes on to explain the uses for salt: a food additive, a biological necessity, as food storage, and as a purifier.
A Food Additive– Salt brings out the flavor of food. One time I made some muffins for the kids and forgot to add the salt. Needless to say, they weren’t interested in eating the muffins. They tasted too flat. As a Christian, I’m supposed to bring a good flavor to the environment around me with my attitude and character. My saltiness is supposed to make others want to “taste and see that the Lord is good”.
A Biological Necessity– Sodium is a nutrient for all living creatures. Too much or too little is not a good thing. Am I living my faith so that others realize they need Jesus? Can they see that they need more of Jesus?
Food Storage: Salt is a preservative. Its keep meat and fish from ruining and safe to eat. When I am in my day to day routine, do I act in such a way as to keep the situation from ruining? Do I preserve my environment to keep it safe and stable? Or, do I bring instability or decomposition? Do things break down? If the quality of my salt is good, my presence, actions, and attitude will help to bring keep things safe.
Purifier: When I think of salt as a purifier, I think of making things clean and helping to heal. How can I purify the environment around me? I might be tempted to think that purpose as a purifier is to make sure everybody knows what it is they are doing wrong. I should be correcting them to make them more pure. However, I love what Lori says,
All of these ideas about salt really make me think about how I’m living out my faith in front of others. Does my presence bring an inviting flavor and cause others to thirst for Jesus? Do I make others realize how much they need Jesus? Do my attitudes and actions preserve stability and safety? How am I acting as a purifier? Am I showing God’s qualities?
In Matthew, it tells us that worthless salt needs to be thrown out. If we’ve lost our salt, we are not going to be much good at bringing Christ to the world around us. I sure do want to be salty enough to make others want more of Jesus.
Here’s a little Facebook video talking about all the uses of salt here!
Don’t forget your salt!
~Amy
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