"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
Jesus said to His followers “You are the salt of the earth.” We miss something in the modern English translation, but it is clear in the Greek that “you” is not singular, but plural. Certainly, it includes these new followers of Jesus called the disciples who were basically commoners and not leaders in any religious sense of the term. He is also referring to all the followers of Him. You all are salt of the earth.
What a great compliment! Salt was a necessity of life in ancient times and thus great value was attached to it. Salt was so important that it was sometimes used for money. The Roman soldiers of Jesus’ day were at times paid with it. In fact, our word “salary” comes from the Latin word salarium which referred to the payments to the soldiers with salt. We still use the phrase saying that someone either is or is not, “worth their salt.” We don’t think much about salt because we can get as much of it in its pure form as we want. It is that little bottle with holes in the top on the table. But when you are completely dependent on salt to preserve your food and when it is so valuable that it is used in the place of money, you get a completely different perspective.
I think often of how spoiled I am. I like a variety of foods. I thought about the Israelites in the desert where there was no variety of food. Manna was their diet day in and day out. For much of the world rice is eaten at every meal. In parts of Africa, they eat corn meal every meal. Their local dish is called Ugoli. One missionary said it was appropriately named because that describes its taste “ooh golly”. Without salt to make it palatable it’s tasteless. Job 6:6 says, “Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?”.
Jesus wants us all to know we are valued. We are precious to Him. We are important to the world into which He called us. We are to make a difference. We are vital to His plan while on earth. That makes us blessed and He plans to make us a blessing.
Application: To be salt and light to others, we must be in the Word.
Prayer: Father, it is hard to comprehend that we are precious to You. As You bless me with Your love, make me a blessing to others.
