Matthew 5:13 – “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. (HCSB)

I was looking on a web site that gives household tips and read about adding a pinch of salt to the brewing basket of the coffeepot. There were several tips that involved salt and that lead me to thinking about how Jesus said we are the salt of the earth.  Of everything He could have said, why salt?  The Salt Institute tells us there are over 14,000 different uses for salt.  I started researching salt and found that salt is used in food, drug, agricultural, chemical, and industrial areas. Salt is the only rock humans can eat.  Like a snowflake, every crystal of salt is uniquely different.  The human body needs salt but we cannot make it for ourselves; we must take it in.  Roman soldiers were paid in salt.  Ever heard the term “not worth his salt” to describe a lazy person?  Salt is used to preserve meat because it stops rot.  Salt is an antiseptic, a cleansing agent.  Salt is used to melt ice on wintery days.  When the correct amount of salt is placed on food, the salt disappears but the flavor of the food is enhanced.  Colossians 4:6 says that our speech should be seasoned with salt. Jesus has called us to be salt, to add flavor to the world around us, to stand against the rot of a sinful world. But, salt that has lost its taste is worthless.  Pure salt does not lose its saltiness, but contaminated salt does. Romans 12:2 tells us not to conform to this world, not be so much a part of the world that we can’t make a difference, not to become contaminated salt.  Does that mean that we should only socialize with people who are just like us? Salt is powerful but is absolutely worthless unless it is applied.  Matthew and Mark both tell us that Jesus said “go out into the world and teach the gospel.” Romans 10:14 reminds us that people can’t know the truth unless someone tells them. Salt sitting on the table is pretty but it must come into contact with the food to make a difference.  There is even a book by Rebecca Manley Pippert titled “Out of the Saltshaker & into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life”. People need salt but need someone to give it to them.  People need You but need someone to show the way.  Lord, I want to be salt.  I want to be uniquely different from the world but still enhance the world.  I want to be worth my salt in Your sight, Lord.  I want to be the salt of the earth.