THE SALT OF THE EARTH

Time with Jesus - Thursday, 13 September 2012

Hi all,

Reading God’s Word introduces us to ideas we had never thought of before. Jesus was a master story teller. Many of the things He talked about were taken from natural world around Him. ±2000 years later, we miss many of the things He was saying because we are not familiar with that culture. Our meditation today looks at salt and seeks to widen our understanding of His comments on this topic.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Thursday, 13 September 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	THE SALT OF THE EARTH
If I asked you what you thought was the biggest problem which most Christians have to face today, I rather suspect that most people would say “Embarrassment”. It’s a sort of off-shoot of the fear of man. One of the best examples I can think of is what happens in the local restaurant when the staff gathers round you and sings, “Happy birthday to you!” Most of us blush. We don’t like this sort of attention. There are times I’d like to crawl under the table and hide rather than face the knowing stares of others. Like a tortoise I’d like to pull my head and feet into the shell and play dead! At the same time we revel in it when we send the staff to sing “Happy Birthday” to others. I rather think many of us are like this. I’ve tried to avoid it by keeping my birthday and anniversary dates under lock and key. I could always find a good reason for not telling enquirers the “incriminating evidence”. As the years go by it becomes increasingly difficult keeping this a secret. I’ve often wondered how a person can stand at a pulpit and deliver an inspiring sermon in front of dozens of people, without a second thought. But when your birthday is in the church notices for the purpose of asking people to phone you, the day becomes something of a nightmare. The phone rings. You’d like to ignore the incessant ringing. But in the end you pick up the receiver sheepishly knowing what’s going to happen. There is a cheery voice gushing over with the news that you are a year older. At times I’d rather forget! Sadly, embarrassment carries over into everyday life. We would like to testify to the goodness of God and our commitment to Jesus. But we are too embarrassed to do it. It’s stupid, but many of us are like this. We all want to be different. But we also want to be well liked and well thought of by others. We know we have become a “Jesus Freak”. But nobody likes a freak! So we sort of gulp and say nothing. The same attitude is reflected in what we wear. The idea of wearing a brightly coloured tee-shirt with the words, “Jesus love you” is somehow worse than singing an aria from Carmen! The good news is that Jesus knows and understands. The bad news is that He wants us to grow up and get over it! He expects our light to shine brightly and not be hidden under a pot. In simple terms He expects us to influence society in much the same way as salt changes the “society” into which it is placed. If the salt in you and me is not changing our society in some way, our salt is tasteless and useless. Notices how He describes its final end. “Thrown out and trodden underfoot by men”. There are two ways to look at this. One is to see the salt as not serving a useful purpose. There is another and, in my opinion, a worse outcome. The “useless salt” gets thrown onto the pathway of life and is walked on by the people of this world. Oh it does serve a purpose. The feet of men trample on it and it becomes more useless than it was. People do not know what its purpose was. How can they? It’s hidden under their feet. Things will not change until you and I “rise up” from beneath their feet and allow our saltiness to be seen. There really is no choice. Somehow we must ask Him to give us the strength to provide the flavour of Jesus to change the world. He will not use compulsion. But if we do nothing, that pathway could be a grave from which nothing will ever escape. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			13 "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. Matthew 5:13 NLT 4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 1 Peter 3:4 NLT 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 TNIV 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, John 11:25 ESV 36 And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection. Luke 20:36 NLT 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Romans 1:23 NASB 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:9-11 ESV 42 It will be like that with bodies that are raised from the dead. The body that is planted does not last forever. The body that is raised from the dead lasts forever. 1 Corinthians 15:42 NIrV 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." Mark 9:50 ESV 29 Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29 NLT	Salt is a preservative, it also disinfects. It also is a flavouring a master chef respects. When it isn’t present, your food you cannot taste. This means, that on occasions, the food will go to waste. But there are other purposes. In fact there’s many more. Which one was Jesus meaning? I think we should explore, What many people used it for, way back in Jesus’ days. To help us come to grips with what we find the Bible says. One of the surprises was to fertilize a field. When mixed with other minerals, it caused the ground to yield, A larger crop of vegetables than any they had known. So for the local farmer, a bigger crop than sown! Its antiseptic uses, the midwives knew quite well. They “washed” a new-born infant with salt. The child would yell And tell the anxious fathers the child was doing fine. But in the drier areas, they used camel urine! They couldn’t waste their water; they needed it to drink. So salt mixed with the urine. Worked just as well – I think! They also had a ritual; a Covenant of Salt; Was often celebrated for family feuds to halt. This covenant was permanent. It wasn’t put aside. It was a lasting guarantee, like husband to his bride. It never could be broken. The only way was death. And people swore to keep it, until their final breath. We cannot live without it. I had a long-time friend; A very helpful fellow on whom you could depend. He had a “pet aversion” to that which he could taste. A very “fussy eater” whose actions were misplaced. He couldn’t stand salt’s flavour. He’d push his plate away, If he could even smell it. This happened till the day, They thought that he was terminal; they all wanted to know, The reason why this person’s health had reached an all-time low. They did a special test on him, to find the reason why, And found his low salt content was causing him to die! They put him on “salt tablets” and in a day or two, He was restored to normal; the man whom they all knew. Now Jesus is omniscient. He knows about these things. He knows what lack of saltiness, to many people brings. And that’s what He was saying when speaking on that day. He meant if you’re not salty, you will be thrown away. If salt has lost its usefulness, it isn’t any good. Where can you dispose of it? You’d use it if you could. But it will not cause damage if its throw upon the road. If people walk upon it, it helps to spread the load, So folk will not fall over and sink into the ground. There is no better purpose than ever to be found. So keep on being salty, that other men may know, That Jesus is the only way a person ought to go. Jim Strickland – Written 13th September 2012