hot chips

'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.'*

 
In the past month I have really enjoyed eating hot chips! I'm savouring my Vegemite sandwiches. I enjoyed some great wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce the other day! And I can't get enough, I keep coming back for more. It has made me think about salt, and it's amazing diversity of uses. Jesus tells his followers that they are "the salt of the earth". But what does it mean to be a salty Christian?

Salt is used in cooking to ADD FLAVOUR. In Psalms it encourages us to 'taste and see that the LORD is good!'** If we explore and trust in God, we will find Him to be good and beneficial to our lives, enhancing what is already good in our life. Christians are encouraged to add flavour to the life around them, highlighting, encouraging, and building what is good.

Salt is also used in the process of canning which ensures the PRESERVATION of fruits, meats, and other foods. Just as salt keeps things for longer, so too should Christians be seeking to preserve what is good and  beautiful in the world. Salt preserves that which comes into contact with it, so too God commissions Christians to bring His people and world back to him, to preserve them and it for the return of Jesus and from rotting and wasting away.

'He says: "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.'***

Salt is used when CURING meats, fish and olives, it is a process that preserves and adds flavour. Salt draws water from the product, making it last longer. And when eaten, we are thirsty for more. The Apostle Paul encourages Christians to 'Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.'**** A great story is one we come back to again and again, same with a great salty dish, and a friendly person. The message of Jesus is one that should make us come back for more, with it's good news of forgiveness and grace, justice and hope. As believers of this good news, Christians, too live out in person this gracious message.

Salt can be used as a WEED KILLER. There is justice. The evil of this world will be punished. If this wasn't the case it would be unfair, the unrepentant murderer and rapist, thief and liar, manipulator and greedy would be freed. But God promises that they will one day be punished. "God will turn the sins of the evil people back on them. He will destroy them for their sins. The LORD our God will destroy them."***** Until that day, we must wait on the Lord, but speak words of justice to the perpetrators and comfort to the victims.

Salt is also a means of CLEANING things in the kitchen and around the place. Apparently, it helps remove bad odors and egg from pans. Christians should also be people who seek to forgive one another and themselves. Who aid in cleaning society from the wrong that we collectively do. Ultimately, Christians are not God and will not do the job perfectly, but thankfully, we have a perfect God, who has, does and will clean completely and perfectly. If we are afraid of losing our effectiveness as salty Christians we can always turn to God in prayer and ask for his grace and forgiveness:

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.******

*Matthew 5:13
**Psalm 34:8
***Isaiah 49:6
****Colossians 4:6
*****Psalm 94:23
******Psalm 51:7