Journal Entry // March 8, 2023
“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. (ESV)
Matthew 5:13
As we live out these opening verses of the Sermon, Jesus tells us that we are now the salt of the earth. There is a lot of deep meaning packed into this small comparison. Salt was an essential preservative and seasoning among other things. In our modern times, we have lost some of the meaning of this statement and the impact that salt had on the world at the time. Regardless, the focus for me this morning as I read through this section is the idea that salt can lose its saltiness. This statement of Jesus is of major importance in my life. If salt can lose its saltiness, what does that mean for me? At a minimum, I think it means that my gospel witness will be ineffective and my spiritual impact on this world will be severely negated. In essence, if I forego the saltiness of an intimate relationship with Jesus and the life-changing union and communion with Christ, then what I am good for at this point?
It’s an interesting question that needs to be asked often in my personal reflections. Am I being salty? In other words, am I developing and strengthening my spiritual relationship with the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit? Am I resting in the finished work of Christ upon the cross? Am I going about my daily life with a deep faith and trust in the providence of my holy God? This is what it means for me to be salt. And now that I am salt, I am able to then go out into the world and bring the vitality of salt to the world. I can engage with the world and bring the salty truth of the gospel of Jesus to everyone.
If I have lost my saltiness, then I am neglecting my relationship with Jesus. I lose my saltiness as I forget the beatitudes. The beatitudes call me to a life of deep honest examination of my heart. A life that looks beyond the surface level of the mask I sometimes wear around others and calls me to something deeper. Something more personal and intimate. Being salt is a call to first engage with Jesus in my heart. To gaze and reflect upon the motivations and desires that lie behind my every action. To humble myself before my Savior. To repent and believe. Failure to do this will cause my saltiness to lose its taste. It will no longer be salt. It will be ineffective and unuseful.
The call of Jesus in this verse is first to tell us that we are indeed salt! We don’t make ourselves salt. Only Jesus can make us salt. Yet, we do participate in this salty relationship. We do indeed engage and connect with Jesus both on a personal level and as we engage with the world. My inward relationship with Christ and my outward relationship with Christ are intertwined. As I engage with Jesus in every area of my life, my love for him will grow deep and wide. It will grow deep within my own heart and soul, and it will grow wide in my love for others. For I will then love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength AND I will love my neighbor. This is the true Salt Life.