SALT

A few months ago as I was having a meeting with my boss he told me that I was being promoted to a senior position at my job. Of course I was excited about the opportunity but it was what he said to me next that I was really happy about…and to this day it was the best compliment I have ever received and also one of the most difficult to live up to. My boss told me that I “was salt in the earth.” I don’t know if he really meant it but it is a compliment that bears a lot of weight.. It is a personal motto, mission, anthem…everything. Trying to live up to that is my life’s goal.

I have given much thought to what it means to be salt, particularly in the Christian context. Salt is a game changer. It is the one ingredient that when mixed with food, always holds its own. So it is with you and me. God has called us to be salt, distinct & different, never blending in(Matthew 5:13). I believe this is what he did in 1 Kings 19:18. Elijah, had already been living for God and after he killed all the people that worshipped the false God Baal he thought he was the only one left that truly loved God. God told Elijah that he was mistaken, he had 7,000 people in Israel that had not bowed to Baal and were still worshipping him. I believe that is what God has called us to be…that remnant of people that still want to live for and follow God despite what this world is doing. This is what salt is made of.  The people who don’t want to conform to this world and its ever changing standard. It’s the people that still love God and want to live for him wholeheartedly.

We have to be Salt to this world because we have to be those people that live their life differently from everybody else. The person that prays about every decision. The person that responds to hurtful situations calmly. The person that tithes consistently. The person that is willing to suffer for the cause of Christ. That is the person that God is keeping as a remnant for himself. As Salt in this world, we need to be the one that God can trust to live for him and represent the kingdom well.